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The Raiders boy’s hockey team entered the week at 7-41 and they were scheduled to play five games in seven days since the last game was reported on with two of those five completing after press time. Before these five games took place, the Raiders were on a two-game losing streak, a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to St. Louis Park and a 71 thumping at Mahtomedi for the conference lead. The loss to the Zephyrs and subsequent games played in the conference have Mahtomedi, Hill-Murray and Two Rivers tied at eight points a piece and tied for first in the conference. Hastings has six points, and they are tied with St. Thomas Academy for second.

The first game of the week for Hastings was Tuesday against the 5-9-0 Simley Spartans. The two teams spent the first period getting a feel for each other and there was not a lot of action until the second period. That is when the Raiders came out hot, scoring in the first three minutes of the second. At 2:42, Blake Vandehoef set up Brody Larsen who found white lace for the 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal. Two minutes and 38 seconds later, Larsen scored again. This time it was on the powerplay, and the assistance came from Connor Zgoda and Eddie Peine.

Simley cut the lead in half a few minutes later when Hastings went to the penalty box, but Hastings quickly returned the favor. The Raiders were on another powerplay and this time it was Danny Millner who hit the back of the net. Larsen was not done earning points on the night, gaining another with his assist to Millner. Vandehoef also contributed to the scoring play, earning another assist point on the night. Hastings took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

The third period was Vandehoef’s time to shine and he picked up two goals for Hastings. The first goal was a powerplay with Larsen and Millner assisting. The second goal was a shorthanded goal assisted by Sawyer Tjomsland and Hastings won 5-1.

Simley had 10 penalty minutes on five infractions while Hastings had eight penalty minutes on four infractions. Hastings scored on three of the five powerplays and only allowed one goal on three penalty kills. The Raiders outshot Simley 3420. Kody Niederkorn had the start in net stopping 19 of 20 shots for a .950 save percentage.

Game two of the week was home against Tartan (212) on Thursday. Hastings had the lead 3-0 headed into the third period thanks to goals from Larsen, Charlie Williams and Tjomsland. Vandehoef, Millner (twice), Williams and Carter Simpson each had assists. The Titans gave Hastings a bit of a scare in the third, scoring two unanswered goals, both on powerplays, to make it 3-2, but Hastings was able to hold off the late game rally.

Hastings outshot Tartan 31-26, but 14 of those Titan shots came in the third period, making Niederkorn’s day a little more challenging. He did stop 24 of 26 for a .923 save percentage. Hastings was 0-for-3 on the powerplay and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill. Tartan went to the box four times for eight minutes and Hastings went six times for 12 minutes.

Saturday’s game was against the 5-7 Owatonna Huskies. This game was a little differently paced that the Tartan game. Carter Simpson scored his first varsity goal in the opening period to give Hastings the 1-0 lead. Jon Harris and Joseph Iovino each earned an assist. In the second, Zgoda scored a powerplay goal with Vandehoef and Peine each getting an assist. That put Hastings up 20. By the end of the second period, Owatonna tied the game at two.

The third period Owatonna controlled the flow, out shooting Hastings 10-4, but no goals were scored forcing overtime. 6:40 into the extra period, the trio that scored the second goal scored the game winner when Peine and Vandehoef connected with Zgoda.

Hastings logged 27 shots on goal to Owatonna’s 30. The 28 stops Niederkorn made gave him a .933 save percentage for the game. Hastings had six penalty minutes on three infractions and Owatonna had 12 minutes on six. Some penalties were incidental with Hastings scoring on two of the five powerplays they saw while they successfully stopped the two Owatonna powerplays.

For the season, Niederkorn moves to 10-4-1 in starts with a .922 save percentage and a 2.38 goals against average. Blake Vandehoef leads the team with 10 goals and Jon Harris has the assists lead at 13.

The Raiders did play Monday night against Farmington and Tuesday against St. Thomas Academy, we’ll have coverage on those games next week. You can catch the Raiders against Two Rivers on Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at home and Jan. 31 at Lakeville North at 7:00 p.m.