It wasn’t the way the Aberdeen Wings were looking to start the game, but it definitely turned out the way they were looking to start the new year.

The Wings overcame a sluggish start to cap off a home sweep over St. Cloud with a 2-1 NAHL win to kick off 2022 at the Odde Ice Center.

Aberdeen, which scored 17 seconds into the game on Friday night, did not even manage to get a shot on goal in the first 12 minutes on Saturday. However, the Wings’ first attempt resulted in a goal by Cade Neilson off an assist by Chase Davis, who had just exited the penalty box.

“Chase made a really good pass to me and it kind of gave me that breakaway and that kind of started picking up momentum for the team,” Neilson said. “As soon as that happened you saw things started to go our way a little bit more.”

Neilson said it felt good to score, but more importantly it got his teammates going.

“I’m not really known as a goal-scorer,” Neilson said. “I’m more of a playmaker, so it was cool, but it was more important to get the team going and get us pumped up.”

The Wings spent most of the opening 20 minutes playing defense, killing off multiple penalties. Aberdeen was outshot 15-3 in the first period.

Fortunately for the home team, goalie Dominik Wasik was up to the task and helped keep his team in the contest.

“We weren’t happy with the first period. We weren’t bad. We managed the puck very poorly, I thought, and it wasn’t for lack of work. We were just not making plays,” said Wings coach Steve Jennings. “We were hitting guys on the stick and we weren’t making the second play, so we weren’t getting the puck advancing. We spent a lot of time turning the puck over in the neutral zone and Dom did a great job of bailing us out.”

The Wings broke a 1-1 tie early in the second period when Seamus Campbell scored a power play goal. However, Aberdeen still had plenty of short-handed hockey remaining, including trying to kill off a majority penalty that took place late in the second period, forcing the team to spend the better part of seven minutes on a penalty kill.

The Wings were up to the task, actually outshooting the Norsemen during that particular stretch.

“We have a good kill. The group that works on the kills takes a ton of pride in what they do, which is really good. They ran our system to a ‘T’ tonight,” Jennings said. “We gave up some shots and we’re always going to give up shots, but when we did give up shots, they were ones we were managing. A couple of those Dom had to make some big saves and he tracked across really well and did what we needed him to do.”

St. Cloud had one last surge left and it began with five minutes remaining when the Norseman had a high-percentage shot in front of the Wings’ goal. But Wasik was rock solid in net on the way to his second night of 30-plus saves.

“In my head, I’m just next shot, put everything in the past and just worry about the next shot and just do your thing,” Wasik said.

He said the key is to stay focused the entire time, regardless of where the puck is on the ice.

“It’s definitely a big part of the mental side of the game and just making sure that you’re mentally ready,” Wasik said. “Your body is ready, but you just have to keep your mind in it.”

He credited his teammates for helping him out, especially during the extended penalty kill.

“It is what it is. Say that we’re going to kill it off and we’re going to build momentum after it and I think we did that,” Wasik said. “It’s great stuff by the team. Again, it was a full team effort. Seven minutes, it was good momentum shift for sure.”

The back-to-back wins over St. Cloud were important for multiple reasons. It gives the Wings a boost against a team close in the division standings and also helps to set the tone for the second half of the season.

“For us as a team, these are the little things, that extended kill, a sweep weekend to start the second half, these are the things that start to really build momentum for a team and starts a roll going,” Jennings said, “so I feel pretty good about that.”

To see complete stats, click on the following link:

https://www.aberdeenwings.com/stats/game-center/31986