The Jets headed to Cloquet over the weekend for an inter-division series with the Minnesota Wilderness and returned to Janesville with a pair of wins.
Both Friday and Saturday’s games ended the exact same way: 3-2 victories in favor of the Jets. Friday’s game saw the visiting team jump out to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes with Jake Sacratini’s fourth goal of the season.
Janesville then added a shorthanded goal from Carter Hottmann, his fifth of the season, in the second period, and a tally from Charlie Schoen for a 3-1 advantage. The Wilderness made it a one-goal game in the third period, but could not catch up to tie it.
Riley Sims got the win in net for the Jets, his seventh of the season, with 32 saves. Defenseman Spencer Kring had three assists on the night, with helpers on each of Janesville’s goals.
Saturday’s finale had a two-goal opening period for the Jets with a power-play mark from Tommy Middleton and the second from Robby Newton. It was Newton’s first goal in a Jets jersey since his stint with the team in 2019.
The Wilderness cut into Janesville’s lead with a tally from Grant Docter at 18:03 of the second period, but the Jets regained the two-goal advantage just 12 seconds later with Shane Ott’s seventh of the season.
Riley Sims let it in one more Minnesota goal in the third period, but foiled a split for the home team and added another win to his record. His 36 saves on Saturday meant that he blocked 68 of 72 Minnesota chances throughout the two games.
The pair of victories gained the Jets four points in the division standings, but the Minnesota Magicians also pulled off a sweep of the Chippewa Steel to keep Janesville in second place by just one point. The Jets are now 17-8-2-0 in their 27 games, and have one in hand over the Magicians.
Next Flight
The Jets are in for a busy week with three games in four days before taking two full weeks off. The Battle of Wisconsin with the Chippewa Steel continues with a St. Patrick’s Day showdown at Janesville Ice Arena, set for 7 p.m. Wednesday. Two more high stakes games come on Friday and Saturday, as the Magicians come to town for a rematch and a battle for first place in the Midwest Division. Limited single game tickets are available for Wednesday and Saturday’s games via the Jets online store.