Friday: W, 4-0
A chunk of time went by without another score, but Parker Mabbett played some pinball and sent a shot from next to the net off a Steel defenseman’s head that ricocheted into the yawning cage. The Jets took a 2-0 lead into the final frame.
With the momentum entirely in their favor, Janesville added another just before the halfway point of the third period. After entering the attacking zone, Cy LeClerc dropped a pass to William Gustavsson, who labeled a perfect cross-ice pass to Jan “Zigi” Lasak, who just got enough of the pass to knock it past Croix Kochendorfer to make it a 3-0 game. Six minutes after making it a three-goal lead, Gus got in on the scoring himself. After corralling a pass from Gunnar Williams, Gus took a slapshot from above the circles that bounced off a Steel player at the front of the net and made it beyond Kochendorfer. LeClerc added an assist on the play to cap off his three-assist night. It was a fitting home-team bounce, considering how things were going all night for the Jets.
While things were clicking on the offensive side of things, Owen Millward again stole the show at the back end. With 29 saves on all 29 shots, Millward recorded his league-tying sixth shutout of the season and third in four games.
After starting the campaign with a 3-11-0-1 and at the bottom of the standings, the Jets’ Friday night victory pushed them into a playoff spot for the first time this season.
Saturday: W, 6-2
Following their dominant shutout victory in front of the biggest crowd of the season of 860 fans, the Jets went into Saturday’s game with a six-game winning streak, tied for the longest of the season.
The Jets picked up where they left off in the series finale after William Gustavsson pounced on a bad rebound to record his 17th goal at 17:25 of the opening period. The Jets took their 1-0 lead into the second.
Sam Frandina tied the game at a goal apiece with the Steel on the power play for the Steel’s first goal against the Jets since January 14.
After the game-tying the goal, the Jets hit the gas and scored four unanswered goals in six minutes. Joseph Kramer scored his first goal with the Jets at 11:01 to give the Jets a 2-1 lead. Four minutes later, Cy LeClerc found himself in the spotlight once again with his second Michigan goal of the season.
It’s one thing to score the Michigan one time in a season, but to do it twice? You are something else, Cy 😲#SCtop10 #WheelsUp✈ pic.twitter.com/T6vWc4vgVc
— Janesville Jets (@JanesvilleJets1) February 27, 2022
The Michigan goal is an incredibly difficult move to execute, so for Cy to do it twice in a single season speaks volumes on his confidence and skillset. It was his 24th goal, and eventually stood as the game-winner.
Only 30 seconds later, Spencer Kring wound up a heavy one-timer from a wicked angle above the right circles that found its way through traffic and in. Kring’s fourth score of the season moved the Jets out to a 4-1 lead.
At 17:05, LeClerc again got on the board and scored “the Culver’s goal” to open the game up and cap off the Jets’ scoring onslaught. The Jets had the game locked up with a 5-1 lead with another period to play.
The Steel managed to interrupt the Jets’ scoring with another power-play goal, again scored by Frandina, to make it 5-2. With 53 seconds left in the period, the Jets displayed the Jets put on a passing clinic between William Gustavsson, Jan Lasak, and LeClerc to score the game’s final goal. Zigi found LeClerc on the backside wide open, and Cy put on one move and easily scored his third goal to secure the first hattrick for the Jets this year.
Owen Millward again put on a solid display between the pipes, making 27 saves on 29 shots to get his 22nd win of the year. 11 Jets found the scoresheet in the rout that got them their seventh consecutive win and kept them in the Midwest’s final playoff spot.
Around the Division
FRIDAY SCORES
Minnesota Wilderness 2 @ St. Cloud Norsemen 5
North Iowa Bulls 3 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 1
Minnesota Magicians 5 @ Kenai River Brown Bears 7
SATURDAY SCORES
North Iowa Bulls 5 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 3
St. Cloud Norsemen 0 @ Minnesota Wilderness 8
Minnesota Magicians 4 @ Kenai River Brown Bears 2
STANDINGS
| Place | Team | GP | Record | Pts |
| 1 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 48 | 30-15-1-2 | 63 |
| 2 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 46 | 29-14-1-2 | 61 |
| 3 | Anchorage Wolverines | 43 | 23-15-4-1 | 51 |
| 4 | Janesville Jets | 44 | 24-19-0-1 | 49 |
| 5 | MN Magicians | 46 | 21-18-4-3 | 49 |
| 6 | MN Wilderness | 43 | 23-19-1-0 | 47 |
| 7 | Chippewa Steel | 45 | 19-24-0-2 | 40 |
| 8 | Kenai River Brown Bears | 49 | 12-32-3-2 | 29 |
Next Flight:
The Jets will have another set of games against the Chippewa Steel, with this one a home-and-home. The first game will be from Janesville on Friday and Saturday from Chippewa. The Jets will have an extra game on Sunday against the Central Division St. Cloud Norsemen at 2 PM CT. The Jets have won all four of their games against the Steel this year.
Quick Hits:
- The Jets moved into a playoff position for the first time this season.
- In their four wins over the Steel, the Jets have scored 19 goals and allowed just six.
- Saturday’s win extended the Jets’ winning streak to seven games, their longest of the season.
- Cy LeClerc recorded a total of six points in the two-game series, the most in a weekend for any Jet this year.
- Joe Kramer scored the first goal of his junior hockey career on Saturday and first with the Jets.
- Owen Millward recorded his 22nd win of the season on Saturday, the third-most in the league.
- The team moves to 24-19-0-1 on the season and is in fourth place with 49 points, a tie with the Minnesota Magicians.
