It had been a frustrating night at Sara Park for Hatchets forward Jonah Dickens. Despite his key late first period goal to get Tomahawk on the board, the senior, with 131 career goals had been hassled by the Pines defensemen and foiled by goalie Evrett Leslie. Head Coach Dewey Reilly sensed his star forward’s frustration and told him, “You have a rocket for a shot, just come down to the top of the circles, back the defenseman in and shoot.” With one minute and forty-five seconds remaining in a tie game, Dickens did exactly that, lasering a wrist shot past Leslie and sending the Hatchets to a 6-5 victory. It was the 23rd game winning goal of his career.

The win kept Tomahawk unbeaten at 5-0 while handing Northland Pines, 4-1, their first defeat of the season.

It was Youth Hockey Night in Tomahawk and prior to the game all the future Hatchets made their way on to the ice to the delight of a packed house. The Eagles found the back of the Tomahawk net before the young Hatchets could find the concession stand. Dickens was called for interference just 39 seconds in, putting Pines on the powerplay. Nicholas Hahn hammered a one-timer from the top of the left circle, and the Eagles took a quick 1-0 lead.

Tomahawk easily out chanced the Eagles throughout the period, but it was Pines that would strike again at 9:23. Senior Pines defenseman Josh Graves sniffed out a breakout pass headed for Caiden Reichelt on the right-wing, stepped in front of it took one step and fired it on net from under the dot. The shot snuck through Hatchet goalie Hudson Seymour’s five-hole to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Seymour was a game time decision to play, battling through a high temp and illness.

As the clock ticked under two minutes, Dickens came off the left-wing wall in the neutral zone, cut to the middle and wired a wrist shot over Leslie’s glove with 1:11 remaining, cutting the Pines lead to 2-1. It is a familiar goal scenario for Dickens that showcases his elite shooting ability. Tomahawk held a 12-8 shots advantage in the first period.

The second period featured more of the same as the Hatchets held a territorial advantage to open the period. Jett Reilly had backdoor chance early that Leslie denied. Graves hit the crossbar for Pines and moments later Dickens’ frustration rose higher when on a clean breakaway he lost the puck off his stick as he put a goal mouth move on Leslie. At 5:58 Graves, who is certainly one of the state’s top defenders, drove down the right-wing boards with Mason Jaecks pushing him outside. Graves dipped inside as he passed the dot and was able to find the net for a 3-1 Eagles lead.

The goal served as a wake-up call for the Hatchets who stormed back, scoring three times in four minutes to surge ahead 4-3 at the end of the second period. Reichelt started the comeback when he took a perfect royal road pass from Jake Albert and calmly slid it into an open Eagles net.

Brayden Lamer then scored a powerplay goal to tie the game. And with 55 seconds remaining Jett Reilly caught Leslie off-guard with sneaky wrist shot just inside the far post. Tomahawk unleashed 16 shots in the period to four for the Eagles.

Jett Reilly scored a beautiful backdoor tap-in on a precise feed from Dickens early in the third period to make it 5-3 Hatchets. For Reilly, a sophomore, it was his 12th goal of the season, which leads the state. On the road against the defending state champions, that may have been lights out for some teams. The Eagles had different plans and clawed their way back into the game with two powerplay goals. Sam Shrock snapped a bad angle shot under the crossbar at 10:56 to close within one goal. Then with Albert in the box for elbowing, Pines head coach Zach Otto took his timeout. Off the ensuing face-off Graves fed Michael Schmidt who lined a one-timer just inside the post to tie the game at 5-5 with 5:11 to play. Leslie, who played a great game against the high-powered Hatchets, made a sprawling pad save on Jett Reilly with about four minutes to play.

Tomahawk got what they needed at 13:38 when Nicholas Hahn headed to the box for holding giving the Hatchets the man advantage. Dickens ended his evening of frustration with the game winner sending the faithful into the winter storm that awaited them outside. “Dickens shot is ridiculous,” said Otto. On the night, the two teams powerplays went a combined 5 for 8.

Tomahawk finished with a decided shots advantage 41-21.

The Hatchets followed the game plan that led them to a state championship a year ago with two lines earning the lion’s share of ice time. Dewey Reilly is working to find the right combinations and a few more players who can step in and contribute. “We are still working to get guys playing together, to trust each other,” said Reilly. “We need to find out who our 7,8,9 forwards are, because come playoff time we won’t be able to do what we did tonight.”

For second year head coach Zach Otto, and his young team with eleven freshmen, it is about gaining experience. “We started by spreading those freshman out between the three lines and then decided to put them all together starting with the Amery game. It’s a huge adjustment for them, but we can see improvement in every rep they get in practice and games. We know they will make some mistakes but feel the long-term development of those kids will outweigh a one goal loss in Tomahawk.”

Otto, a Pines alumnus, is enjoying the journey. “I never planned on taking over this program but can’t even describe how much fun I’m having with these kids. It’s been an amazing experience and I’m learning every day. I have a great staff around me as well!”

“Tough loss tonight to Tomahawk on the road, but a game that I thought could’ve gone either way,” stated Otto. “We’ll hopefully get another crack at them come conference tournament and stay out of the box.”

The Hatchets and Eagles will both host Somerset (2-3) next weekend. Friday night in Eagle River and Saturday in Tomahawk. Rice Lake (0-2) will visit Pines on Saturday.

• Three Stars of the Game: 1-Dickens-J.Reilly, 2-Graves,  3-Leslie
• Blue Collar: T-Beau Stromberg, NP-Saari