The Raider boys hockey team had a tough week on the ice against two very talented opponents to drop the record to 12-9-1 overall and 4-4 in the conference. First up was Park of Cottage Grove at 16-8 then the 15-8 Mahtomedi Zephyrs. Neither game went as the Raiders had hoped they would.

First, at Park in front of a packed house on Park’s senior night, the Raiders jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Mark DeNoyer and Brody Larsen set up Jon Harris for score at the 4:20 mark of the game. Park tied the game 1-1 exactly nine minutes later and that was all the scoring for the first period. Hastings was playing a very good team very tough and that looked to be a setup for a possible upset.

Then the second period started. 3:40 into the second, Park took the lead 2-1, then it was 3-1, then 4-1 and suddenly, after a great first period, fans were fearing a potential blow out with just a few minutes left in the second. That is when one of the strangest goals of the season occurred.

The Raiders dumped the puck into the Park zone for a line change and Blake Vandehoef gave chase. The Park goalie went behind the net to make a play on the puck and Vandehoef’s speed caught him off guard. Vandehoef quickly stole the puck from the Park goalie who rapidly tried to return to the crease, but it was too late, Vandehoef made a quick pass to Brody Larsen to put the puck in the back of the net. The problem was, both Larsen and a Park defender were racing to the net, collided and down they went, sliding into the unsuspecting goalie, causing all three of them to follow the puck into the net for the goal. It was now 4-2 Wolfpack.

The Third Period was intense and if you like high scoring hockey games, this was one to be at. Park scored three more unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the third period then Hastings finally answered back. DeNoyer and Eddie Peine connected with Larsen for Larsen’s second of the game at 10:09. Two minutes later, Vandehoef scored with the help of John Teigland, and the score was 7-4. That was all the offense Hastings could muster and Park was not done yet. The game finished 94 with Park on top.

Both teams had 12 penalty minutes on six infractions, Hastings scored on one of the six powerplays and Park was unable to convert on any. Shots on goal finished much closer than they started with Hastings managing 16 shots in the third period to bring the total to 28 shots on goal while park had 38 shots.

Kody Niederkorn faced 33 of the shots stopping 27 for a .818 save percentage. Ryan Clemens played the final 15 minutes of the game facing five shots, stopping two for a .400 save percentage.

Hastings then played host to the Mahtomedi Zephyrs on Thursday night falling 7-1 The lone Hastings goal came in the third period when Harris connected with Larsen who scored at 9:44 to make the game 5-1.

The tale of the week is Hastings struggles with slowing down the bigger, faster teams, even if the team is half a step or step faster. Mahtomedi out shot Hastings 54-13 with Hastings having only two shots in the third period. Niederkorn stopped 47 of 54 shots for an .870 save percentage. Both teams went 0-for-4 on powerplay opportunities. Hastings had five penalties for 10 minutes and Mahtomedi had six penalties for 12 minutes.

Hastings has two games left in the regular season. South St. Paul at home on Feb. 16th at 7:30 p.m. and a trip to Tartan on Feb. 18th at 3:00 p.m. then it is section time.