Zachs Lead Huskies to Sixth Straight Win

A pair of Zachs were instrumental in Owatonna's 4-3 win at Tartan Thursday night, which extended the Huskies winning streak to six. They were also down one Zack due to illness as a couple of regulars missed the game.

Zach Kubicek scored a couple of highlight reel goals, each put the Huskies up one, the second of them was the game winnter. Zach Wiese was solid between the pipes, making 27 saves for the win, including 14 in the third period as the Titans put on constant pressure.

OHS coach Josh Storm said afterward, "We were out our best defenseman tonight. We missed him. So a lot of people had to be bumped up into roles, into situations that haven't necessarily been trained in a whole lot." Wyatt Oldenfendt and forward Zack Kirsh missed the game due to illness. Storm and others are also battling a cold.

He went on to say, "Zach Wiese in the third period was dynamic. He was just dynamite for us. He just decided we were going to win and that's one of the main reasons why. Zach Kubicek on the final two goals decided he wanted to score and that we were going to win. Those two really carried us tonight. We were sick and beat up."

"Collin Pederson had a big night too with a ton of blocked shots. He and Dom (Valento) scored the shorthanded goal which I think turned a lot of momentum."

Tartan scored midway through the first on a good shot by Marshall Ahn. The Huskies evened it up early in the second period. During our broadcast, we believed that to be Valento from Pederson and Sam Knoll. The Titans went up 2-1 on a power play at 2:24 of the second.

Just as Owatonna was going on a five-minute major penalty kill, they busted the puck up the ice. Valento raced to it on the back boards and slipped it out front to Pederson for the tying goal.

Kubicek scored the first of his notable tallies in the closing minute of the second. Denied on a great attempt by goalie Jack Cashin, Kubicek got his own rebound, put it on his backhand and shot it over Cashin's shoulder for a 3-2 at the second intermission.

Tartan's third period pressure paid off with a goal at 8:03 by Bo Strecker to tie the game at 3-3. Kubicek's winner came at 10:43 as he gained control of the puck deep in the Titans' zone, walked around a couple of players, and snuck the puck around Cashin for the final goal of a 4-3 win. Kubicek earned the TPS Insurance Player of the Game honor.

Owatonna had to kill off a penalty in the closing minutes, giving the Titans a 6-on-4 skater advantage. Wiese made several big saves and the Huskies had a little 'puck luck' on a couple of other chances. Tartan (3-4) outshot Owatonna 30-21.

The main five defensemen Thursday Knoll, Brody Homan, Devin Rousch, Joey Dub, and Grant Achterkirch turned in a solid night, each making several great plays. Forward Aaron Bangs blocked some shots and made nice plays backchecking. Owatonna's line of Tanner Stendel, Sam Sampson, and Austin Mundt kept the Titans bottled up in their zone for long periods of time.

The Huskies (6-1) will go to Duluth December 27-29 and attempt to defend their Heritage Holiday Tournament championship. My thanks to Marc Wiese on color commentary during Thursday's broadcast.

The annual OHS alumni games are Friday, December 20 at Four Seasons Centre. The girls game is at 6 pm. A skate with the current Huskies event will happen at 7 pm, followed by the boys alumni contest beginning a little after 8 pm.