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The North Branch boysí hockey team played Mora and Moose Lake even last week, taking their record to 0-1-2.
On Dec. 6 the Vikings traveled to Mora on a frigid evening, determined to make amends and play a much different game than they did in their previous game, a 1-7 loss to Pine City/Rush City.
During the first period, Vikings netminder Chris Lindberg turned away 5 of 6 shots. The lone Mora goal was a shot from a streaking Mora player than came from right to left below the right face-off dot. At the end of one period, the Vikings held a slight lead in shots at 7-6, but trailed on the scoreboard 1-0.
The second period of play had the pace of the first, but was riddled with penalties. Seven were called, two on NB. This advantage proved to be the difference in the period, as the Vikings peppered the Mora goalie with 14 shots and eventually capitalized on a power play goal from senior defenseman Nate Obitz. Obitz, scoring his first goal of the season, blistered a shot from the slot from passes by forwards Jake Cogger and Cory Husnik, knotting the score at 1-1.
The third period saw a smattering of penalties and the same breakneck pace as the first two periods. The teams traded eight shots apiece, but no goals were scored. After 51 minutes, the Vikings held a 29 to 23 shot advantage.
The Vikings held a 7-5 shot advantage during overtime, but neither team scored.
In the Moose Lake game, the Vikings third consecutive road contest, ML came out quickly and dictated play for the first seven minutes and capitalized once. But sophomore forward Jack Williams notched his first goal of the season at 4:11 of the first period, putting in a shot on a breakaway up over the ML goalieís shoulder.
Entering the second period tied at 1-1, ML struck first only to be answered in kind with a power play goal from Obitz. Obitz, assisted by senior Jake Anderson and junior Levi Disrud, scored right off the face off. Goalie Chris Lindberg turned away 37 of 39 shots through two periods.
Despite being outshot 39 to 12, the Vikings opened the third period with a flurry of goals. The first came a little over a minute into the third period when freshman defenseman Jake Lenards launched a wrist shot from outside the blue line that caught the ML goaltender off guard as it skipped under his glove. Lendards assisted Anderson 43 second later as he tallied his first goal of the season and put NB up 4-2.
With 12 minutes remaining, the Vikings found themselves in the penalty box and at a 5-3 disadvantage. Disrud and junior defenseman Aaron Cedergren, along with freshman Brian Dahlstrom, effectively killed off the two-man short situation until their teammate was released from the box.
In the waning moments of the final stanza Moose Lake, under penalty, rallied with two shorthanded goals, the final one sneaking in with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
Playing in their second consecutive overtime game, the Vikings were unable to find the back of the net and secured another tie.
Lindberg faced 55 shots and made 51 saves. North Branch had 28 shots, bagging four goals, its largest putout in a single game this season.
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