Myles Hektor had 34 saves and Chad Lopez scored on assists from Charles Martin and Levi Cudmore at 9:09 in the third period to lift Wisconsin-Superior to a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin-Stout in their WIAC men’s hockey playoff opener Monday night at Wessman Arena in Superior.
After sophomore forward Dylan Johnson of Cloquet opened the scoring at 9:55 in the second to put UWS ahead 1-0, Kobe Keller knotted it up 1-1 with a power-play goal for Stout at 6:07 in the third. That tie would only last three minutes, however, as Lopez scored and Hektor did the rest, with 17 saves in the third period alone.
Brennan Kitchen had 39 saves to lead the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (4-7).
Fourth-seeded UWS (6-3) plays at top-seeded River Falls (6-3-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals.
1/4: UW-Superior’s Chad Lopez, center, and Levi Cudmore, left, celebrate with Dylan Johnson after Johnson's second period goal during the playoff game with UW-Stout at Wessman Arena in Superior Monday evening, March 8. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)
2/4: UW-Superior’s Troy MacTavish (18) holds off UW-Stout’s Joey Patronack (36) to keep control of the puck in the first period of their playoff game at Wessman Arena in Superior Monday evening, March 8. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)
3/4: UW-Superior’s Levi Cudmore (12) and Dylan Johnson (11) knock the puck away from UW-Stout’s Alec Skar (27) in the first period of the playoff game at Wessman Arena in Superior Monday evening, March 8. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)
4/4: UW-Superior goalie Myles Hektor (35) makes a save in the second period of their playoff game with UW-Stout at Wessman Arena in Superior Monday evening, March 8. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)
