A few days prior to Christmas, with the promise of a winter wonderland covered with that white stuff, kids returned home from college and many old acquaintances were renewed off the ice.

On the rink at KB Willett Arena, another meeting was taking place. For the 51st time, two Wisconsin Valley Conference foes—Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point—would battle it out for hockey supremacy just six days before presents would be opened all over America.

This would be an early Christmas gift, if you will.

On this chilly evening, the hosts would prove to be the dominant squad as they scored two early first period goals (three total) en route to a 6-1 victory over rival Wisconsin Rapids.

In a portent of things to come, the volunteer who put the net out on the Rapids end slipped and went head-over-teakettle, foreshadowing the struggles that the Rapids squad would have in the early going.

The Panthers would score a pair of goals in a span of just under six minutes in the middle of the period to put the pressure on the visiting team.

Less than a minute after Rapids goalie Tanner Reany denied Jake Minch with a right pad save, Devon Blaes scored an unassisted goal for the hosts to make it 1-0 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening stanza.

Blaes tallied his second counter five minutes later when he caught a pass from Carter Smigaj while crossing the low slot right to left and slipped the puck past the Rapids netminder to make it 2-0.

The guests cut the lead in half when they caught the hosts napping on a line change seconds later.

Spencer Sparks snuck off the bench and got behind the defense and found himself all alone with the puck. After a couple of dekes, the junior forward pitchforked a backhander past SPASH goalie Spencer Wierzba to make it 2-1 with 5:39 left. Isaac Gilbert and Colin Brey earned helpers on the play.

Two minutes later, Smigaj would almost add to his point total, but a rebound attempt went wide left.