Overtime Win Gives Jets Fourth Consecutive Victory and Sweep Over Kenai River

Jan 10, 2022

By Calvin Bush (@calvin_bush24) | Jan 10, 2022 | 2:45 pm
JANESVILLE, WI — For the second time in three nights, the Jets took Saturday night’s finale against the Kenai River Brown Bears into overtime. While Thursday’s game made it to a shootout, it only took 16 seconds into the extra period for Jan “Zigi” Lasak to score on a two-on-one to get the Jets the series sweep and fourth win in a row.

Only one minute and change after the opening puck drop, Ethan Begg received a nice pass from a dangling Lasak and sniped a snapshot from the right circle to record his tenth goal of the season and open the scoring. Begg’s nifty goal was capped off by a celebration directly in front of a few scratched Brown Bears players looking on from outside the glass. “It was just kind of in the moment, it was a big weekend, electric atmosphere, and I just went crazy,” said Begg on his passionate celebration. The University of Vermont commit added an assist to his name later in the game.

Brown Bears rookie Kevin Marx Noren put Kenai River on the board 10 minutes later that tied the game at a goal apiece.

A penalty called against the Jets put them shorthanded, but that didn’t stop the home team. After another nice play from Begg to break up an offensive chance, Jonah Aegerter picked up a loose puck that rolled out to center ice and skated in all alone, made a few dekes, and flipped a backhander by Tommy Aitken for the score. The eighth goal of the year for the hometown kid from Janesville was also the fifth shorthanded goal scored by the Jets this season.

The lead stood for eight and a half minutes before Ryan Finch picked up a pass in the slot and found the back of the net to tie the game at two.

The game surprisingly stayed knotted at two for the entirety of the third period despite a total of 17 shots between the two teams. A scoreless final period of regulation sent the contest to overtime for the second time in the series. Thursday’s game made it to a shootout after neither team won in the extra frame, and ended with a win in the fourth round.

The Jets felt like taking care of business a bit quicker this time around, and only 16 seconds into the three-on-three period, brought the Hangar to their feet with a win. Following a zone exit, Cy LeClerc brought the puck in on a two-on-one advantage and sauced a pass over to his roommate, Zigi Lasak, who had nothing but open net to shoot at, and he did not miss. It was Zigi’s second time playing the hero after his goal in the shootout on Thursday gave the Jets the win.

“This weekend doesn’t happen without my teammates. I got back [from World Juniors], the first couple games were tough, but the guys helped out in a big way, and that’s what helped me get that overtime goal,” said Lasak. “It was a great pass from Cy, and all I had to do was bury it.”

Zigi’s 14th goal of the year capped off his two-point night in his first games back from the IIHF World Juniors Tournament in Alberta, which was sadly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Beating a team three times in a row is something special; there are no easy games in this league. As you can see, the mood in the locker room is awesome, and we’re having some fun right now,” Zigi said as the locker room door opened with music blaring and players shouting. The Jets have won five of their last six, dating back to their first of two three-game series against the Wolverines last weekend.

“Three-game series are never easy, and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You gotta come out even with hurt bodies and fight through it,” said Jets captain Cal Mell. “The mood now is great; we came back from break knowing we had to get six of six, we got five of six, so we’re going to keep building off of that from here.” When asked about the mentality he and the rest of the guys had going into a game against the Chippewa Steel, followed by another Alaska road trip, the captain had just three words: “find a way.”

The Jets will make their way to Chippewa for the first time this season on Friday night that will kick off a five-week road trip spanning until the third week of February.
The successful two weeks in Janesville helped the Jets move up to sixth in the Midwest Division standings, four points behind the Steel, and five points behind the Minnesota Magicians in the fourth and final playoff spot, making the one game against Chippewa that much more important.

BOX SCORE

Around the Division

WEDNESDAY SCORE

Anchorage Wolverines 7 @ Minnesota Magicians 6

FRIDAY SCORES

Fairbanks Ice Dogs 1 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 5

SATURDAY SCORES

Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 7

Anchorage Wolverines 3 @ Minnesota Magicians 5

Chippewa Steel 3 @ MN Wilderness 0

STANDINGS

Place Team GP Record Pts
1 Fairbanks Ice Dogs 35 23-11-0-1 47
2 Springfield Jr. Blues 33 22-9-1-1 46
3 Anchorage Wolverines 34 19-12-3-0 41
4 MN Magicians 32 16-12-3-1 36
5 Chippewa Steel 35 17-15-0-1 35
6 Janesville Jets 33 15-17-0-1 31
7 MN Wilderness 34 15-18-1-0 31
8 Kenai River Brown Bears 34 7-22-3-2 19
Coming Up

The long homestand is sadly over, and another road trip will begin for the Jets, starting in Chippewa for the first game against the Steel on Friday night.

Jets @ Steel | Fri Jan 14 | 7:00pm CST

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