Griffen Wanged stopped 28 of 31 shots, Eli Malimanek and Shea Svendsen scored twice and Albert Lea killed two late penalties as it slipped past longtime rival Mankato West 4-3 on Tuesday, Dec. 6, in a Big 9 Conference matchup at All Seasons Arena in Mankato.
The victory was the first of the season for the Tigers (1-1-0), while the Scarlets (2-1-1) suffered their first loss.
Malimanek and Svendsen each scored in the third period, with Malimanek’s goal 4 minutes, 33 seconds into the period proving to be the winner. He took control of the puck in the corner and threw it on net, where it hit off a skate and went in as the teams combined for 3 goals in 3:19 seconds.
Mankato West cut the Tiger lead to one for the second time, at 4-3, on a Tyler Mata wrist shot that beat Wangen low to his blocker side with 6:23 remaining.
Albert Lea took two penalties in the final three minutes, but the Tigers effectively killed them to secure their victory.
Mankato West’s Zach Erickson and Albert Lea’s Malimanek exchanged first-period goals, and Svendsen scored the lone goal in the second to put the Tigers ahead 2-1.
Zach Fox made 21 saves on 25 shots for the Scarlets.
Albert Lea was 1-for-4 on the power play while Mankato West was 0-for-3.
Albert Lea hosts Austin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Mankato West travels to Rochester May for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday.