Photo Gallery: Rogers vs. Maple Grove
“We became a team tonight,” said Rogers coach David Brown. “We’re finding our way right now. And they’re learning a lot of things about this last step of becoming a premiere program, and I thought tonight was another step in that direction.”
The Royals (9-2-3) used a sound defensive effort to halt a Crimson (12-2-1) winning streak at 10 games; the streak now bumps to 11 unbeaten contests for last year’s Class 2A, Section 5 winner and Class 2A state runner-up.
The growing rivalry between the two Northwest Suburban Conference programs is fun to watch, said Maple Grove coach Todd Bergland. Rogers moved to Class 2A in 2014 and joined Section 5 last season.
"I’m anxious to play them again,” Bergland said. “We know our path is going to go through them. It’s going to be fun.”
Saturday, the teams settled in throughout a first period which stayed scoreless at the intermission. They also traded scoring chances. With under 10 seconds to play in the first, Maple Grove senior Jay Ellingson passed the puck to junior Lucas Busch in the slot, but Rogers senior goaltender Cade Chapman came up with a huge pad save, one of many in the game.
Maple Grove came into the game scoring nearly six goals a game and outscoring opponents 82-22 this season, with 82 goals tied for second best in the state. But Rogers countered with solid defense from senior Chase Cheslock, among others. They’ve worked on team defense a lot this season, said Rogers senior forward Sam Ranallo.
“It kind of wasn’t our style the past couple years,” Ranallo said. “And we know that if we want to win big games against really good teams like that, then we’re going to need to work on our team defense.
“It’s kind of starting to pay off here.”
The second period featured some golden missed opportunities early as teams hoped to dig into the scoreless tie. Rogers senior Carson Melquist missed a wide-open net on the rebound for the best chance of the game at the time, and a few minutes later, Maple Grove senior Finn Brink hit one of two post shots on the night.
But Melquist made up for his chance in a big way, giving Rogers a 1-0 lead six minutes into the second in what seemed like a huge goal from a momentum standpoint. Then Ellingson tied the game at a goal apiece with 40.4 ticks remaining in the period.
Special teams also played a part, with Ranallo sniping the first of his two goals on the night with the man advantage a few minutes into the third period to give Rogers the lead once again. But Maple Grove’s power play had clicked near a 50% clip this season (though it finished only 1-for-5 on this night), and senior Blake Steenerson finished off a tic-tac-toe play to tie the game 2-2.
Before the fans could catch their breath again, Brink got in all alone with the goaltender and answered 37 seconds later for a 3-2 Crimson lead with 5:24 remaining in regulation.
Rogers kept going. Ranallo buried his 13th goal of the season — and sixth during the team’s four-game unbeaten streak — off the rush only one minute, 11 seconds after that. The overtime period saw its share of chances, including one more opportunity on the power play for Maple Grove, playing in its first overtime action of the season (Rogers is now 0-1-3 in OT.).
“Us being able to stick together and come through, tie that up and play eight minutes in overtime, pretty good,” Ranallo said. “I think that’s big for us.”
It was a physical game that reached a couple of boiling points in the third period with post-whistle scrums and even a fight breaking out between Rogers' Payton Struck and Ellingson. The game sheet included three game ejections and another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“They’re physical,” Brink said of the Royals. “They’re not going to lose a battle.”
The Crimson outshot the Royals 53-34. Chapman made a season-high 50 saves — all while dealing with the flu, according to Brown. Both coaches complimented Chapman’s performance, with Brown noting that the assistant captain goaltender is “trying to play with a chip on his shoulder from the section final” last season.
Saturday was their first meeting since Maple Grove upset Rogers in the Class 2A, Section 5 championship last season with a 4-2 victory. Rogers won last year’s regular-season meeting at home, 6-5. These two teams are scheduled to play again on Feb. 3.
Both teams entered the day unbeaten in the Northwest Suburban conference sitting in the 1-2 spots in the standings.
“Maple Grove has been a premiere program for a while now,” Brown said. “We’re on the cusp of being the next one. And they’re chasing that goal every day they come to the rink.”
With this rivalry, Bergland talked about adding two regular-season matchups with Rogers going forward.
“If we could play those guys 25 times, I’d play them 25 times,” Bergland said. “It’s certainly a learning lesson. I thought we played pretty well overall.”