SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. – Friday night, Granite City scored three goals in a three-minute span to start the second period, and three goals on the power-play. A power-play goal turned out to be the game-winner on Saturday as well, as the Bulls fell 5-3 to the Lumberjacks, dropping back to .500 to begin a long home stretch at the North Iowa Ice Arena.
The Bulls’ power-play unit went right to work in the first period, though, with Cam Fagerlee (St. Anthony, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) putting one away just past the 11-minute mark to take a 1-0 lead. The Bulls out-shot their hosts 12-8 in the opening stanza.
Ian Doner (Mukilteo, Wash./Janesville Jets) and Brendan Studioso (Mukilteo, Wash./North Iowa Bulls) set up an insurance goal from Matt Dahlseide (Maplewood, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) at the 2:47 mark of the second period, taking the lead to 2-0.
In the final six minutes of the second, though, Hunter Drobinski and Grant Troumbly wiped out the lead with back-to-back goals, sending the Bulls and ‘Jacks to the third period tied at 2-2.
92 seconds into the third, Hunter Schwehr sent one through the five-hole of Dysen Skinner (Billings, Mont./Sioux Falls Jr. Stampede 18U), and Granite City took its first lead of the night.
It almost lasted 10 minutes – Fagerlee won a draw to David Mulligan’s right and passed the puck to Jarod Blackowiak (Eden Prairie, Minn./North Iowa Bulls), who immediately beat Mulligan over the shoulder to tie the game 3-3.
The final goals both went to the Lumberjacks – Granite City got three power-play chances in the last period, and took advantage with a tap-in with 7:06 remaining. Bailey Sommers earned his first goal of the season on a snap from the right faceoff circle, giving the Lumberjacks the final 5-3 lead with just 3:25 to go.
North Iowa wrapped up the game at 1-for-5 on the power play, putting them at 2-for-35 over their last six games. Granite City ended the night at 1-for-6 on the man-advantage.
Skinner stopped 25 of the 30 shots against him in the contest, dropping back to 2-2-0-0 for the season. Mulligan has won all four of his decisions, after finishing with 28 saves on 31 Bulls chances.
Fagerlee finished with the top offensive showing of the night for North Iowa, with a goal and an assist. The sweep was Granite City’s first against the Bulls since February of 2017 in a weekend series.
After spending nine of their first 10 games on the road, the Bulls begin their longest homestand of the regular season this Friday night, playing seven in a row at the “Barn.” The first three of those will be against the Breezy Point North Stars, with Friday and Saturday night’s games both scheduled for 7:30 p.m. puck drops. All Bulls games are streamed live on HockeyTV, with Saturday’s game also audio-streaming on Mixlr.
Firefighters will be honored on “Fire and Ice Night” on Friday night, while law-enforcement will be honored at “Light It Up Night” on Saturday night. For advance tickets to those games, or any future Bulls home game, click here.
North Iowa 1 1 1 – 3
Granite City 0 2 3 – 5
1st Period-1, North Iowa, Fagerlee 7 (Escobar, Giddings), 11:05 (PP). Penalties-Sommers Gcy (interference-minor), 9:26; Junker Nio (holding-minor), 16:32; Dahlseide Nio (unsportsmanlike conduct-minor (embellishment/diving)), 19:41; Schwehr Gcy (tripping-minor), 19:41.
2nd Period-2, North Iowa, Dahlseide 4 (Doner, Studioso), 2:47. 3, Granite City, Drobinski 3 (Dummer, Flattum), 14:18. 4, Granite City, Troumbly 5 (Flattum, Sandberg), 18:46. Penalties-Flattum Gcy (interference-minor), 6:21; Fagerlee Nio (kneeing-minor), 10:59; Bogach Nio (holding-minor), 16:04; Troumbly Gcy (holding-minor), 16:04; Doner Nio (slashing-minor), 17:33; Olson Gcy (hooking-minor), 17:55.
3rd Period-5, Granite City, Schwehr 2 (Spetz, Sommers), 1:32. 6, North Iowa, Blackowiak 1 (Fagerlee), 11:26. 7, Granite City, DeBoom 7 (Flattum, Olson), 12:54 (PP). 8, Granite City, Sommers 1 16:35. Penalties-Dodge Gcy (interference-minor), 4:05; Sommers Gcy (roughing-minor), 9:37; Junker Nio (high sticking-minor), 10:09; Fagerlee Nio (hooking-minor), 11:33; McDermott Nio (unsportsmanlike conduct-minor), 14:25; Pogue Gcy (unsportsmanlike conduct-minor), 14:25; Dahlseide Nio (cross checking-minor), 17:25; Studioso Nio (slashing-minor), 18:24; Amundson Gcy (cross checking-minor), 18:24; Dahlseide Nio (cross checking-minor), 19:52; Dodge Gcy (roughing-minor), 19:52; Escobar Nio (cross checking-minor, cross checking-major, cross checking-gm), 20:00; Johnson Nio (cross checking-major, attempt to injure-match), 20:00; Nagle Gcy (roughing-minor), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-North Iowa 12-10-9-31. Granite City 8-11-11-30.
Power Play Opportunities-North Iowa 1 / 5; Granite City 1 / 6.
Goalies-North Iowa, Skinner 2-2-0-0 (30 shots-25 saves). Granite City, Mulligan 4-0-0-0 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-1,032
Referees-David Lilly.
Linesmen-Colin Briscoe, Nick Klinkhammer.