The Raiders played three very tough opponents last week when they faced off against Owatonna (11-3-1), Rochester Century (13-2-1), and Mahtomedi (7-8). Hastings pulled off a bit of an upset at Owatonna 4-2 and played well against both Century and Mahtomedi at home losing those games 4-2 and 3-2, respectively.
Against the Huskies, Hastings took the lead halfway through the first when Blake Vandehoef and Connor Zgoda connected with Jon Harris for the first goal of the game at 8:29. Owatonna tied the game at 12:44 but Hastings regained the lead at 15:12. This time it was Vandehoef on the powerplay from Mason Boeff and Brody Carlson.
The Raiders extended their lead at 5:07 in the second when Brody Geib and Sawyer Tjomsland connected with Luke Wahlstrom to go up 3-1. Owatonna wasted little time scoring less than three minutes later to bring the score to 3-2. Harris found Vandehoef for the insurance goal at 10:33 in the third, locking down the 4-2 win.
The score says otherwise, but the game was a bit slow on the offensive side for both teams. Hastings managed 18 shots on goal to Owatonna’s 23, and the Raiders scored on one of three powerplays while shutting down the Huskies only skater advantage. Hastings did go to the box three times for six minutes while the Huskies went four times for eight minutes. Ryan Clemens kept 21 of 23 shots out of the net for a .913 save percentage.
Century came to town and for the most part, the game was even for the first two periods. Hastings took the lead 38 seconds into the second period. Vandehoef to Zgoda to Harris again for the goal, but Century made that up 11 minutes later to take the game to the second intermission tied at one.
The third saw the floodgates open for Century where they scored three unanswered goals to go up 4-1. Zgoda connected with Vandehoef at 15:54 to cut the Century lead to one, but the game ended there.
Hastings ended up with six infractions for 15 minutes including a five-minute major while Century made the trip to the box only three times for six minutes. Hastings stopped only four of the six powerplays and Century stopped all three.
Century had 25 shots on goal and Brooks Smyrski stopped 21 of the 25 shots for a .840 save percentage. Hastings had 18 shots on goal.
The final game of the week was another game that no one expected the Raiders to win. Mahtomedi tends to be a bigger, faster and stronger opponent for the Raiders and this game was no exception. The Raiders came out with a purpose, and they were not afraid of the Zephyrs. That showed in the Raider’s efforts all game long. Mahtomedi looked like a team that just expected to win 5-2 or 6-1 and Hastings looked like a team fighting for their lives. The Raiders had purpose and a pep in their step while Mahtomedi looked as though they thought it would be an easy win.
The Zephyrs scored first at 9:52 and Hastings answered in the last two minutes of the first period. At 15:07 Hastings evened things up. The size and speed of Mahtomedi could not be matched wearing down the Raiders in the second period despite the great effort from Hastings. Mahtomedi had a 3-1 lead until 16:00 into the second when Vandehoef and Zgoda connected with Harris to make the game 3-2. That is where it ended and the Raiders now dropped two in a row.
Both teams had success stopping the powerplays with Hastings going to the box twice for four minutes and Mahtomedi going five times for ten minutes. Clemens stopped 23 of the 26 he faced for .903 goals-against average.
Because of the goalie-by-committee approach, neither of the Raider’s goalies qualify for the Hockey Hub top ten, but Vandehoef is tied for 34th in goals with 16, and points at 43rd with 31 points. Zgoda is tied for 64th in assists at 17.
The Raiders are on the road for their next three games. First at Tartan on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. then on Jan. 20 at Simley at 7 p.m. Finally, they travel to Rochester to take on Mayo at 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 23.