By Mason Lyttle
LAST WEEK…
Friday, January 20: Janesville Jets 3, Minnesota Magicians 2
Shots: Jets 38, Magicians 29
PP: Jets 0-6, Magicians 0-5
The Janesville Jets (30-5-0-3) led for only 56 seconds, but they were the 56 seconds that mattered most, as a late goal from Jack Gates ended a back-and-forth with the Minnesota Magicians (21-12-2-2), extending the Jets’ win streak to six.
Late in the first, Magicians defenseman Travis Brown (14:47 1st) scored on an upstairs shot from the point for the game’s first tally. Sixteen seconds later, Joseph Abate (15:03 1st) buried a one-timer on a great feed from TJ Polglaze to tie it. With a minute and change left, Minnesota’s Mitchel Slattery (18:35 1st) struck on a shorthanded breakaway to regain the lead.
Jack Gates (6:43 2nd) scored the second period’s lone goal, the second tying marker of the game, knocking in a backdoor rebound.
The third period featured power play chances for both sides, but the penalty kills stood tall to keep the teams tied. Janesville killed 5:49 of power play time to Minnesota’s 2:11. Much of that work was done by Gates, who tied the game in the second, and would score the game winner (19:04 3rd) on another in-close rebound.
Derek Schaedig (12-3-0-0) made great saves throughout the contest to keep it close for Janesville, and earned the win on a 27-save performance. Ivan Prosvetov (14-8-0-0) did almost everything he could, but a 35-save night wasn’t enough, registering him the loss.
Saturday, January 21: Janesville Jets 2, Minnesota Magicians 3
Shots: Jets 25, Magicians 31
PP: Jets 2-6, Magicians 0-3
The Janesville Jets (29-5-0-3) never led in a sloppy Saturday night loss, as they fell to Minnesota Magicians (18-13-2-1), 3-2, snapping their 14-game point streak. On the power play, Joseph Abate (8:13 1st) sniped his 10th of the season to cut the deficit to one.
Minnesota struck early on a wrist shot from Parker Mismash (1:27 1st), and doubled their lead two minutes later when Cameron Buhl (3:35 1st) put home a rebound.
After a scoreless second period, the Jets again capitalized on a man advantage opportunity when Cullen Munson (7:43 3rd) tipped a shot past the Minnesota goaltender to tie the game at 2-2. Four minutes later, Dmytro Kobylyanskyi (11:39 1st) scored on a high, fluttering shot for the game winner, which was also his first NAHL goal.
Derek Schaedig (12-4-0-0) stopped 28 of 31 shots in the losing net, opposite newcomer Jake Acton (2-0-0-0), whose 23 saves were enough for his second win in his third appearance.
Midwest Division Recap
The Springfield Jr. Blues and the Coulee Region Chill, occupying the bottom two playoff spots in the division, split a Saturday/Sunday series in La Crosse with Springfield taking Saturday’s contest 9-3 before dropping a 5-2 Sunday matinee rubber match. In Alaska, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs pulled off a three-game sweep of the East Division’s Northeast Generals in Fairbanks, while 500 miles south, the Kenai River Brown Bears managed to split their home series with the league-leading Aston Rebels, winning 4-1 on Friday and losing 3-2 on Saturday.
Midwest Division Standings:
| Place | Team | Record | Pts |
| 1 | Janesville Jets | 30-6-0-3 | 63 |
| 2 | MN Magicians | 22-12-2-2 | 48 |
| 3 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 17-17-1-1 | 36 |
| 4 | Coulee Region Chill | 16-17-2-0 | 34 |
| 5 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 14-21-2-1 | 31 |
| 6 | Kenai River Brown Bears | 9-26-2-0 | 20 |
THIS WEEK…
Friday, January 27, 2017 @ Austin Bruins – 7:05 p.m. CST
Saturday, January 28, 2017 @ Austin Bruins – 7:05 p.m. CST
The Jets’ seven-game road stretch ends this weekend in Austin, Minnesota, with a pair of interdivisional matches against the Central Division’s Bruins, who are in a tight battle for the fourth and final playoff spot. Austin split a home-and-away series last weekend with the Minnesota Wilderness, and are led offensively by forwards Justin Misiak (14G, 39 pts) and Travis Kothenbeutel (16G, 35 pts). The Jets split their home series with Austin on the days bookending Thanksgiving with a Wednesday 3-2 shootout loss and a 5-2 win on Black Friday. Both games this weekend will be broadcast live with Mason Lyttle’s call on www.hockeytv.com.
IN THE COMMUNITY…
Jets players will continue their assistance with Janesville Youth Hockey practices, and Jets staff will attend Forward Janesville’s Awards Luncheon on Thursday at the Pontiac Convention Center.
JETS BITS…
Friday’s win saw Keegan Miller assisted twice in his first game back from a head injury, having missed five games…Janesville’s Saturday regulation loss was their first since November 26th, a 5-2 loss in Coulee Region, and their second since a 5-4 loss in Springfield on October 28th…Since October 28th, Janesville is 21-2-2…With the Aston Rebels losing to Kenai River on Friday, the Jets briefly held the league’s best points percentage…With David Schmidling (leg), Ben Schmidling (shoulder), Chris Dodero (ankle), Jakov Novak (illness), Adrian Holesinsky (wrist), and Adam Roeder (head) rehabbing injuries at home, the Jets took just 11 forwards, a season low, to Richfield…Future Wisconsin Badger Joey Abate has a three-game goal streak…Cullen Munson (98 career points) moved to one point behind Ross Mauermann (99) for second place in Jets all-time scoring.