Blue Devils save all their scoring for final minutes, down Northland 3-1 in conference opener

UW-Stout 3, Northland College 1

ASHLAND (November 18, 2021) - UW-Stout saved all of their scoring for the final 5-minutes, 28-seconds of the game as the Blue Devils defeated Northland College, 3-1, Thursday, in Stout's conference opener Thursday.

The Blue Devils (0-6-1, 1-0-0 WIAC) were scoreless through the first two period and the vast majority of the third period until Peyton Hart took a pass from Raphael Gosselin and Kobe Keller at 14:32 of the third period to knot the score. The Lumberjacks (2-4-1, 0-2-0 WIAC) had scored midway through the first period on a power play goal by Ty Brown and looked like they were going to make the lone goal stand up.

But only 28 seconds later, the Blue Devils took the lead when Dylan Rallis punched in the puck from just in front of the crease, giving Stout their first lead of the night at the with five minutes left to play Alec Skar and Mikey Butcher provided the assists.

Stout had a couple of opportunities to put the game away around the 18-minute mark after going on the power play when shots by Alex Nagel and Kobe Keller went wide. 

Northland had no choice but to pull their goalie while playing short and Stout's Peter Verstegen made the Lumberjacks pay, scoring the empty net goal with eight seconds left in the game, with an assist from Hart. 

Hart finished the night with a team-best six shots on net, while Rallis finished with five shots on frame. Hart also won 11 of 15 face-offs throughout the night.

Tyler Masternak recorded 35 saves, three in the final four minutes, to notch his first collegiate win. Chris Curr stopped 41 shots for the Lumberjacks. 

Stout will continue in WIAC play when they travel to UW-Eau Claire, Saturday, Nov. 20 with a 7 p.m. start.