Muskie boys blast Eveleth

The Muskie boys’ hockey team is going into the exam break on a winning note after a 5-1 exhibition win Saturday afternoon against the host Eveleth Golden Bears.
“All in all, the boys got a win under their belt, which is a good thing,” head coach Shane Bliss said.
“We’re not playing our greatest hockey right now,” he admitted. “[It’s] a little sloppy, but at the same time we’ve had a couple key guys out of the lineup.”
Without regulars like Joe Basaraba, Dustin Brown, and Cody McCool (and still missing Matt DiPiero), the Muskies had to make some changes to ensure the win, including moving veteran forward Taylor Jorgenson to the blueline to fill the hole created by the absences of Brown and McCool.
Matt Beck scored in the first period while Matt Hebert netted the eventual game-winner just five minutes into the second.
Ryan Witherspoon, Zach McCool, and Matt McLellan also scored to ice the victory.
Justin Pryde was between the pipes for just his second start of the season after getting his first taste of Muskie goaltending at the Hill Abra Dewar International Tournament of Champions in Winnipeg the previous weekend.
“He did well. The only goal they got was kind of questionable, they pushed him into the net and they counted it,” Bliss noted. “He easily could’ve had a shutout.”
The squad won’t see action again until Jan. 29, when they head to International Falls in hopes of sweeping their season series against the rival Broncos.
Their last meeting, held here back on Dec. 21, saw the Muskies blank the Broncos 4-0.