The season has not played out perfectly, but Hermantown took another step toward establishing itself as a Class 1A state title favorite Saturday.

The Hawks (6-0, 1-0) won a 3-0 matchup between top-three ranked teams in the Dec. 15 Class 1A state polls. In a season where the No. 1 Hawks lost last year's top scorer due to injury, the wins have not stopped coming against some of the top teams in the state.

"You don't replace Zam Plante," head coach Patrick Andrews said. "He is a generational, special talent. So it's impossible to replace that, but we have enough guys who can still score high school hockey goals."

Ty Hanson, who is a University of Minnesota-Duluth commit along with Plante, scored Saturday's first goal with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. He later added an empty-net goal, and teammate Kade Kohanski also scored in the third period.

The Hawks' offense has continued to produce without their top scorer, showing they have the depth to help carry the load. Plante scored 29 goals in 20 games last season as a sophomore. The Hawks (6-0, 1-0) have averaged more than four goals per game, with many opponents holding state-rankings in Class 1A and 2A.

"We're so deep this year that it's just the next guy up mentality," Hanson said.

Very few players on the ice Saturday were in uniform at the time, but these two programs have the recent history of meeting in the Class 1A high school championship game in March of 2020. The Zephyrs won 3-2 in overtime, clinching the first state title in program history.

Many players like Hanson, who is now a junior, were too young to be on the high school roster. But he was in the stands and the Xcel Energy Center, watching the Hawks lose in a heartbreaker.

"Absolutely," he said when asked about any extra meaning. "Our coach was saying before the game, last time we played these guys they beat us."

Hermantown has traveled to play some of the top teams in the state to start the season. The Hawks have played four games in the Twin Cities metro, and have wins against top-20 Class 2A teams Benilde-St. Margaret's, Hill-Murray, and Wayzata. Mahtomedi is ranked No. 3 in Class 1A.

"It's been awesome," Andrews said about the season's first six games. "Other than the Zam injury, there hasn't really been a hiccup."

Opposing Mahtomedi (4-3, 1-1) is also no stranger to having a schedule full of challenging opponents. The Zephyrs' other losses this season have come against top-20 Class 2A teams Cretin-Derham Hall and Hill-Murray. Mahtomedi was also coming off a 3-2 win against Metro East Conference opponent St. Thomas Academy from Thursday.

Head coach Jeff Poeschl said the program intentionally schedules top opponents to prepare for the battles of the postseason.

"You get better when you play teams that are better than you," he said. "And we played a team that is better than us today, and they exposed some of our deficiencies. Now we have to get back to work."