DULUTH — Early in the third period, Grand Rapids forward Will Miskovich fired a shot past East goalie past Duluth East goalie Nolan Nygaard Thursday at the Essentia Duluth Heritage Center.
Fifty-two seconds later, Alexander Salisbury buried one to put the Thunderhawks up two goals and in command.
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That was the Dr. Jekyll version of Grand Rapids that coach Grant Clafton has seen this season.
The turnover in their own zone that led to a Caden Cole power play goal with 4 minutes, 13 seconds to play? That was the Mr. Hyde version that has shown up almost as consistently this season as the good doctor.
“We had multiple chances to get it out of the zone, but until we decide to start winning battles, it’s never going to go in our favor,” Clafton said. “You can’t leave Caden Cole — a big, strong kid — wide open in the slot. He’s scored all year, why is he not going to score now?”
Despite the struggles with consistency, Grand Rapids got a couple of late goals, including an empty net goal, from Nate Garski to get the 5-2 win, but the tendency to get casual and “sloppy” according to Clafton is becoming concerning.
“It’s not a lack of skill or talent, it’s sloppiness because they don’t work hard,” Clafton said.
East (2-11) played one of its most complete games of the season, with the Greyhounds getting pucks in and out of the zone quickly and, perhaps most importantly, they finished hits,” according to assistant coach Steven Holappa. Head coach Steve Pitoscia was sick and was forced to watch from home Thursday.
Holappa was particularly impressed with the third line that was particularly effective and committed to what they needed to do.
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“Those guys bought into a role and decided they were going to shut down whatever line they were against,” he said. “Whether that meant they were getting offensive zone time or not, they took pride in shutting down their opposing line and taking care of business.”
East took a lead early in the first period when Easton Orhn fired the puck past Thunderhawks goalie Carter Casey. Garski tied the game less than a minute into the second period, but the Thunderhawks again seemed to lose focus.
Grand Rapids made several turnovers in its own zone in the second period, but Casey kept the score even.
“He’s one of the best in the state,” Holappa said. “He does a lot of great things and if we’re going to beat him, he just can’t see the puck — if he sees the puck, he’s making that save.”
Still, the Thunderhawks didn’t make it easy on Casey, according to Clafton.
“That’s a hard game for a goalie to play in when you’re so sloppy in front of him,” he said. “I thought Duluth East outworked us, I really did.”
After advancing to the state semifinal with a dramatic win over White Bear Lake last March , the Thunderhawks have been maddeningly inconsistent through the first 11 games. Their most complete game was a 6-1 dismantling of Warroad, the fifth-ranked team in Class A, Clafton said, but otherwise they’ve been “piecing periods together.”
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“Usually during the season you get stung and sometimes that’s enough to figure it out,” Clafton said. “We’re getting into January now and if you get stung at this time of year, it hurts. We’ve got to dig out of it.”
While Grand Rapids has struggled to be consistent, when they’ve been able to play their way out of much of their trouble.
“One thing we do have is they don’t quit,” Clafton said. “They keep getting into a whole and they crawl out of it. Great job for them doing that, but we’ve got to start ready to play.”
Grand Rapids (8-3) will next play Wayzata at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at the Plymouth Ice Center.
East will play Chanhassen at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Victoria Ice Arena.
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