Riverkings split weekend series with the Northwest Express

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings and the Northwest Express traded blows in a crucial division matchup. The Express won the Jan. 9 opener 5–3 and the Riverkings responded with a 6–5 victory the next night.

Game 1: Jan. 9

The Express opened the scoring late in the first period after a flurry of chances in front of Riverkings goaltender Jackson Gruttadauria. Gruttadauria turned aside the initial two attempts, but Bryce Millington capitalized on the rebound to give the Express a 1–¬0 lead.
The Riverkings answered on a power play with 2:43 remaining in the period. Felix Alhstrand found Jonathan Jakshoej at the top of the left circle, and Jakshoej ripped a shot past the Express netminder to tie the game 1–1.
The Express added two goals in the second period to open up a 3–1 advantage. With time winding down, Ayden Welch put the Riverkings back within one, tapping in a rebound on a power play to make it 3–2 at the break.

Midway through the third period, the Express restored their two-goal cushion when Alexander Musyakevych finished on a pass from Alex Themmes. Welch responded again late in the period with his second goal of the night, cutting the deficit to 4–3. The Riverkings pulled their goalie in the final minutes, but Northwest sealed the win with an empty-net goal for a 5–3 final.
The Riverkings finished two-for-four on the power play and successfully killed off both penalties they faced. The Riverkings outshot the Express who were bolstered by a strong performance from Rylan Freshwater (48 saves on 51 shots). Deaken Shaw made 25 saves on 30 shots.

Game 2: Jan. 10

In the second game of the weekend, the Riverkings would jump out to a two-goal lead with Jacob Chevrier-Alexander scoring at the 15:30 mark and Marcus Anderson scoring his first goal (11:47) with the Riverkings on a power play. The Northwest Express answered to make the score 2-1. Mikhail Ilyin countered with a goal of his own to put the Riverkings up 3-1. Eli Underhill made it 3-2 and Jonathan Jakshoej restored the two-goal advantage for the Riverkings.
The second period began with the Riverkings up 4-2 and ended with the Riverkings trailing 5-4. The team would respond in the third period. Lucas Nelson buried one from the top of the circle and a little over a minute later, Jonathan Jakshoej connected with Marcus Anderson for his second goal of the night. Anderson’s goal put the Riverkings on top, 6-5, and the score held for the Riverkings win.

The Riverkings went one-for-four on the power play, and were once again perfect on all four penalty kills. Filip Kaczmarczyk went 25 for 31 for the Express with Rylan Freshwater going eight-for-eight in relief. Jackson Gruttadauria had 36 saves on 41 shots for the Riverkings win.

Up next

The Riverkings will be home Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24 for a crucial division matchup against a dominating Minnesota Squatch team, currently in first place in the North Division. The Riverkings are expecting to pack the house and will be handing out free Rally Towels on Friday to the first 500 fans in the door. Both games are set for a 7 p.m. puck drop at the South Wood County Recreation Center.