JANESVILLE, WI — Leap Day weekend was a success for the Janesville Jets.
Jets fans were hardly disappointed watching their team take the sweep against the rival Springfield Jr. Blues.
The two wins were essential to helping the Jets keep pushing for a playoff spot.
FRIDAY — W, 6-0
The Jets dominated the entire game.
Riley Sims ended the game with a 21-save shutout, while Springfield was forced to play both of their goalies. Ryan Wilson started, but was pulled after the Jets scored their fourth goal. He ended the night with 17 saves, and Alex Proctor ended with 10.
The Jets were led by captain Nick Nardella with two goals. He said he was proud of himself and how his teammates played.
“It felt good,” said Nardella. “Any way that I could help the team win. That is our main focus right now, just get points because that’s how you get into the playoffs. I think that was our most complete game of the year. I think everyone battled really hard and everyone just laid it all out there.”
Goals were also scored by Justin Thompson, Max Itagaki, Charlie Schoen, Nick Michel, and Parker Lindauer.
Assistant coach Lennie Childs was pleased with the change of pace from last weekend’s tough loss at home.
“I was super excited to see hard work pay off,” he said. “The attention to detail that we brought this weekend was really good. The players bought into an everyday focus mentality, which started by getting to the rink a little earlier and doing the right things to get ready to go. The plan was in place and guys know that we have 13 games left to make a splash to get into a possible third place or fourth place and obviously playoffs altogether. The guys really brought a do-or-die mentality to the rink Monday and Tuesday [for practice].”
SATURDAY — W, 6-2
The Jets continued their momentum from the night before and defeated the Jr. Blues 6-2.
Sims closed the night with 20 saves, and Springfield’s Wilson ended with 24.
The Jets were led by Parker Lindauer, who had two goals and an assist.
The other goals came from Grant Hindman, Schoen, Brandon McNamara, and Nardella. Springfield was led by Ethan Heidepriem and Jeremy Gabriele.
The Jets played a hard 60 minutes and worked as a team very well.
Head coach Corey Leivermann was impressed with their play.
“It was a good weekend for the boys,” he said. “It was nice to see them rewarded for playing hard and the right way on both ends of the ice.”
The Jets and the Jr. Blues will match up again next weekend in Springfield.
Around the Division
FRIDAY SCORES
Chippewa Steel 6 @ Minnesota Wilderness 7 (OT)
Minnesota Magicians 4 @ St. Cloud Blizzard 0
SATURDAY SCORES
Chippewa Steel 4 @ Minnesota Wilderness 5 (OT)
St. Cloud Blizzard 3 @ Minnesota Magicians 7
SUNDAY SCORE
Minnesota Magicians 3 @ Chippewa Steel 2
STANDINGS
| Place | Team | GP | Record | Pts |
| 1 | x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 50 | 37-10-1-2 | 77 |
| 2 | Chippewa Steel | 48 | 28-17-2-1 | 59 |
| 3 | Kenai River Brown Bears | 50 | 25-19-3-3 | 56 |
| 4 | Janesville Jets | 49 | 23-25-1-0 | 47 |
| 5 | Minnesota Magicians | 50 | 19-22-6-3 | 47 |
| 6 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 52 | 15-33-2-2 | 34 |
Coming Up
The Jets will get a quick road game in on Thursday night versus the Chippewa Steel before closing out a six-weekend home stand against the Central Division’s Minnesota Wilderness.
Jets @ Steel | Thur Mar 5 | 7:10pm CST
Wilderness @ Jets | Fri Mar 6 | 7:05pm CST
Wilderness @ Jets | Sat Mar 7 | 7:05pm CST
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