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Tonka Opens Up Classic Lake Conference with Wins Over Hopkins and Armstrong  Jim Kruger Stopped all 23 Shots vs Hopkins
The Skippers continued their winning ways this past week, improving their record to 13-5, with a quality win against the Hopkins Royals 7-0 Thursday night, and Armstrong 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
For the first 15 minutes of the first period against Hopkins, both teams traded scoring opportunities, but goalies Jim Kruger and Alex Fons were more than up to the challenge. However, at 15:22 of the first period Derek Frawley, just like he did last week, was able to light the lamp for Tonka's first score. Frawley was assisted by Max Gardiner. Less than 10 seconds later, Tommy Lundquist scored the Skippers second goal, assisted by Sam Coatta, and just like that, Tonka went into the locker room up 2-0 after the first period!
In the second period, Tonka put the game out of reach, scoring four times. Thomas Schutt, intercepting a pass deep in the Hopkins zone, got the first goal at 1:16 of the period unassisted. Gardiner, with assists from Nick Helmer and Troy Hesketh scored Tonka's next goal. With his usual burst of speed, and hustle, Tommy Lundquist blew past a Hopkins defenseman, put a beautiful pass on Coatta's stick, and Sam slid the puck under the goalie's pads for the Skippers third goal of the period. Thomas Schutt scored his second goal of the game, with assists from Gardiner and our very own Jim Kruger!
With Tonka ahead 6-0 in the third, Gardiner, splitting the two Hopkins defensemen with a perfect pass from Frawley, scored on a breakaway backhanded shot over the goalie's glove side. Jim Kruger was outstanding in net for Tonka. Kruger stopped all 23 shots he faced, including a breakaway by Archie Skalbeck with less than a minute left in the game to preserve his shutout....and don't forget about his assist!
On Saturday afternoon, the Skippers traveled to Plymouth Ice Arena to take on the 9-4-1 Armstrong Falcons. Jake Thornberg, with assists from Tommy Lundquist and Andrew Prochno, got the Skippers on the board early in the first period. While Tonka dominated the first period, outshooting the Falcons 20-3, the score was tied at 1-1. The Skippers took the lead for good in the second period with a pair of goals by Andrew Prochno. Prochno's first goal was assisted by Conner Ryan and Pete Carbonneau. His second goal was a slap shot just inside the blue line, with the assists to his defensive linemate Jake Rossman, and Sam Coatta. The third period was again dominated by the Skippers. Max Gardiner scored from Troy Hesketh and Derek Frawley, and Conner Ryan ended the Tonka scoring with the assist going to Gardiner. Nik Job stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced, and picked up his 6th victory against no losses on the season.
The Skippers have only one game this week, but, it will be a big one as the #7 ranked, always physical, Wayzata Trojans pay a visit to the Pagel Center this Thursday night. Click On the Ads... Support Our Sponsors
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