February 19, 2020 – 7:10 p.m.
Willmar Civic Center – Willmar, Minn.
NORTH IOWA BULLS (19-5-1-0)
@ WILLMAR WARHAWKS (13-11-0-0)
ROSTER: NORTH IOWA // WILLMAR
STATISTICS: NORTH IOWA // WILLMAR
ATTENDING THE GAME: MAP TO ARENA // PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE // SEATING CHART
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$)
LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE
BULLS vs. WILLMAR ALL-TIME: 20-0-2
NEXT HOME GAME: The Bulls return home on Saturday to face the Alexandria Blizzard, as North Iowa hosts “Marvel-ous Night” at the Mason City Multipurpose Arena. Several superheroes will be on hand, and a superhero photo booth will be open for Saturday’s game. For a schedule of upcoming promotions, click here.
IS EIGHT ENOUGH?: Bulls forward Lucas Jorgenson earned just his third goal in an eight-game point streak last Sunday evening – with 24 points, he now finds himself in a tie with Cal Nauss for the team’s top mark. Sota Isogai’s eight-game point streak, which ended last Saturday, remains tied with Jorgenson’s for the team’s longest point streak of the season. The last time the Bulls enjoyed a nine-game point streak from any one player, it was Matt Dahlseide’s, who ended the 2018 calendar year on a 16-game point streak.
WARHAWKS FLYING HIGH: Despite last Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Granite City, Willmar continues to climb the standings and take aim at home-ice advantage in the first round of the Fraser Cup playoffs. The WarHawks are winners of 11 of their last 14 games, following a 2-8 start to the season. The turning point may well have been a 4-3 overtime win over New Ulm on November 7, the first of those 14 games – New Ulm’s Tommy Michelsen scored on a power play with 20 seconds remaining to tie the game, but Ryne Mohrman pounded home the overtime winner at 2:48 of the extra session.
THE END OF THE LINE: North Iowa saw several impressive streaks come to an end on Sunday in their loss to the WarHawks, starting with its 18-game home winning streak – that run will remain the Bulls’ longest winning stretch at home since January of 2017. The Bulls snapped an 18-game head-to-head winning streak against Willmar, with the only other loss coming in a 4-3 overtime loss in the Willmar Civic Center on February 17, 2017 (Willmar also never led in that game, but tied it on three separate occasions) and lost their first home game ever to Willmar in 12 outings. Even a three-game Valentine’s Day streak was halted, after the Bulls won their three previous Valentine’s Day games in 2020, 2015 and 2014.
GO THE DISTANCE: Sunday’s game was a relative rarity for the Bulls, playing their first overtime game of the season – by the 23rd game of last year, North Iowa had already appeared in three games that went to an extra session. North Iowa would eventually go 2-2 in overtime games during the 2019-20 campaign.
MEDIA NOTES (click the arrow to expand):