Division 2’s number 1 ranked Tomahawk Hatchets visited the New Richmond Tigers on Thursday night in a hard-hitting, fast-paced tilt.

Tomahawk came out flying early in the first period with a quick strike 1:37 into the game on what would be the first of many power plays. Four minutes later, senior forward Gage Fox tied the game at 1 with a beautiful individual effort on the rush with a snapshot in stride.

Tomahawk wasted no time responding when explosive junior Jonah Dickens made his presence known with a breakaway finish nearly 3 minutes later. Avoiding what seemed to be a letdown of a first period for the reigning state champs, Bjorn Bahneman slapped home the equalizer from the outside slot on a pass from Steven Chapman to tie it 2-2 with 3:51 left in the first. Shots were in favor of Tomahawk 12-8 to conclude the first.

The second period began chaotically, with three power plays drawn between the two teams within the first five minutes. However, the Tigers found their groove in the second period, outhitting, out-forechecking, and outshooting the Hatchets while scoring three unanswered goals from Lance Howard and Steven Chapman and a second tally from Bahneman.

The Hatchets found a source of life late in the second when New Richmond Captain Steven Chapman took a 5-minute major through a race to the puck. New Richmond was able to kill off the full 5-minute major by winning puck battles and a great neutral zone presence, making it difficult for Tomahawk to enter the zone and produce any scoring chances, keeping the Hatchets blanked in the second period.

Both teams left it all on the ice in a back-and-forth third period with lots of blocked shots and key saves from their goaltenders. Jonah Dickens danced his way through the Tiger defensemen and went between the legs for a beautiful finish and his second of the night midway through the third.

Tomahawk put the pressure on late when captain Austin Lamer scored off a quick shot from the point through a screen with just under a minute to go in the third. But New Richmond showed resilience in their own end and were able to pull off a victory with a final score of 5-4 in a Thursday night thriller.