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Tonka Tops Wayzata 2-1 in OT  Pete Carbonneau Tied the Score In the Third Period vs Wayazata
For those of you who missed the Thursday night battle between #10 Tonka and #9 Wayzata, you missed a preview of what to expect in less than a month, when the sectional tournament begins and the race to state heats up! It was truly a playoff atmosphere at the Pagel Center, as fans were packed around the entire rink on Thursday night. The hometown fans were not disappointed as the Skippers came away with a win in beating Wayzata 2-1 in OT.
The Skippers found themselves in a hole early as Wayzata opened the scoring, with the quickest goal scored this year, coming at just 17 seconds after the opening face off. Wayzata's early goal held up for much of the game as Tonka went into the locker room after 2 periods, still down 1-0.
For much of the first two periods, Wayzata's physical play had Tonka bottled up in their own zone. Wayzata's defensemen were repeatedly "pinching" at the blue line, and making it difficult for our forwards to move the puck past center ice. While the shots on goal for the first two periods were basically even at 22 for Wayzata and 23 for Tonka, Wayzata was controlling the flow of the game and putting up quality shots on the Skippers goalie, Jim Kruger. Kruger made several outstanding saves early in the contest to keep Tonka in the game.
Tonka regrouped to the locker room at the 2nd intermission down 1-0, and most of the crowd at Pagel was wondering if the Skippers would have any legs left, after two physical periods of hockey. Well, Tonka came out aggressive, and began controlling the play, much as Wayzata had in the first two periods. They were taking the body and finishing their checks. The Skippers were putting pressure on the Wayzata goalie, but he was turning away everything Tonka fired at him. With just under 5 minutes left in the game, and still down 1-0, Andrew Prochno made a rush up the left side of the ice. Drawing the lone defenseman with him, Prochno made a pass across the goal crease, and Pete Carboneau, who was streaking down the right side, put the puck in the back of the net to tie the game! On the very next face off, Carboneau almost won the game single handedly, as he made a couple of great moves deep in the Wayzata zone, and hit the cross bar with a hard wrist shot.
After a very short rest period, Tonka came into the OT period, with some serious adrenaline, as Sam Coatta won the face off, and fired the puck deep in the Wayzata zone. Max Gardiner and Thomas Schutt battled the two Wayzata defensemen behind their own net, which left Coatta unguarded in front of the goalie. Gardiner came away with the puck, slid a pass to Sam who buried the game winner just 30 seconds into OT!
Jim Kruger turned away 31 of the 32 shots he faced, and has only allowed 3 goals in his last 3 games....all against ranked opponents. Kruger got stronger as the game went on, and was the difference down the stretch.
Tonka has a big showdown, with archival #2 Edina, this Thursday at the Pagel Center. We will need to Pack the Pagel and be loud! Click On the Ads... Support Our Sponsors
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