BEMIDJI – Adam Flammang had the last laugh.
On a weekend when the Bemidji State men’s hockey junior forward played the role of an instigator – jawing back and forth with Bowling Green players for more than six periods – Flammang found himself with the puck in overtime and only the 6-foot-6 frame of sophomore goaltender Cole Moore in front of him.
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Flammang made a move to stay onside and beat Moore with a far-side shot to lift the Beavers to a 2-1 win in the extra session. Flammang’s ability to go from an agitator to a feared offensive threat was evident.
“It’s definitely part of my game,” Flammang said. “I think I play better when I’m going at guys. At the same time, I have to be smart and not take penalties. But yeah, it’s definitely part of my game.”
BSU head coach Tom Serratore could do without the extracurriculars.
“He’s a good player,” Serratore said of Flammang. “He plays hard and he plays honest. There was some chirping going on but I told our guys that we don’t chirp. I don’t like our guys chirping. Play hard between the whistles – play physical – but it drives me nuts (when we chirp).
“(Flammang) does it, but he plays hard, and he’s a tough kid. He plays inside and he gets a lot of what people call greasy goals. Not a lot of players play inside, but he plays inside.”
The overtime winner, Bemidji State’s third this season, was 10 seconds away from never happening.
During the Jan 10-11 road series against the Falcons, Bemidji State scored three extra-attacker goals to come away with three points. So when goaltender Mattias Sholl bolted to the bench with under 90 seconds left in regulation down 1-0, the Beavers’ six attackers hit the rewind button.
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Fifth-year Jackson Jutting found a loose puck on his stick, and with 10.7 seconds left on the clock, he finally beat Moore on BSU’s 30th shot of the game.
“I think after the first goal in Bowling Green we got some confidence with our 6-on-5 attackers on the ice,” Jutting said. “I don’t know how many goals we scored before that but it wasn’t many. The second night when we were down two, we had some confidence the night before and scored two that game. Tonight, we had the same game plan and it worked again.
“I think everyone on that bench knew we were going to win in overtime once we tied that thing up. We had confidence all throughout the bench, and we had similarities to our team last year in those same situations.”
Jutting has 11 goals this season, including the tying tally on Saturday, the winning goal on Friday night and a pair of overtime winners against Michigan Tech and Minnesota Duluth on the road earlier this season.
“Since he’s gotten here he’s scored big-time goals for us,” Flammang said. “He’s a leader, he’s a dog at the end of those games. The puck seems to find him when he’s in the right spots. He plays hard until the buzzer goes.”
It took nearly 48 minutes for Ville Immonen to finally score the game’s first goal.
Sholl fended off a flurry of chances before a rebound trickled out to Immonen beside the net. The Falcons’ fifth-year forward tapped in his fifth goal this season to take a 1-0 lead with a little over 12 minutes left in regulation.
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It was the only blemish on an otherwise spotless night for Sholl, who finished with 22 saves to earn his 49th career win. Sholl was one of five Beavers honored on Senior Night.
“It was a lot of emotion,” Sholl said. “I think it kind of hit me when we got back in the locker room (after the game). I had a few tears shed. It was a nailbiter until the last second but it never felt like we were out of the game. … More than likely it was our last game at home. It was an emotional feeling for sure but an unbelievable way to cap it off for the fans for sticking by us all night.”
Sholl, Donte Lawson, Tony Follmer, Jere Vaisanen and Will Magnuson not only went through the typical BSU Senior Night traditions before the game, but they also filled out five of the six spots in the starting lineup.
“It’s really cool how Tom and the coaching staff put the starting lineup together like that,” Sholl said. “They’ve been doing it for however many Senior Nights there’s been, but it’s a special feeling. Going out together and leaving the ice together at home was a cool thing to be a part of.”
After the game, BSU seniors led a slow lap around the rink at the Sanford Center to thank the fans in attendance for their support. While Bemidji State is not officially eliminated from nabbing home ice in the first round of the Mason Cup playoffs, the Beavers know they are likely headed on a road trip to extend their season in two weeks.
“Our guys get it, they’re good guys,” Serratore said. “They compete hard, and we don’t want to be on the road in a couple of weeks but we’re going to be, and that’s on us. But that’s why you want to make sure you thank the fans for everything they’ve done for us. They get it because ultimately, the program is the fans and the alumni. You have to make sure you thank them.”
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Where they stand
Bemidji State (13-15-4, 10-11-3 CCHA) is currently alone in sixth place in the CCHA standings with a points percentage of .472, and it needs a lot of things to happen to keep playing games at the Sanford Center.
Next weekend, BSU needs Lake Superior State (11-19-2, 9-14-1 CCHA) to sweep Bowling Green (15-12-4, 11-9-4 CCHA). Bemidji State also can’t have St. Thomas (14-13-5, 11-9-4 CCHA) pick up more than two points over Michigan Tech (16-13-3, 12-9-3 CCHA).
Regardless, the Beavers are expecting to go on the road for the postseason.
“We’ve already had to flip the switch,” Sholl said. “Prior to the Tech series, we were in danger of maybe even missing the playoffs. We had to flip the switch a month ago. If we continue to play like this – the game tonight was like a playoff battle, and we could see those guys in a few weeks as well – if we continue to play physical and do the right things, who knows what we do.”
“We’re doing the little things,” Flammang said. “I don’t know how many hits we had tonight but I know last night we had 55 hits. (Against Michigan Tech) we had 47 and 45 hits both nights. It’s doing the little things like blocking shots, hitting, keeping pucks low – the things you need to do to win, we started doing them.”
Bemidji State closes the regular season next weekend in Mankato against Minnesota State. The Mavericks reclaimed the MacNaughton Cup for the seventh time in eight seasons on Saturday in a 4-1 win over LSSU. Minnesota State has won 12 of the last 14 MacNaughton Cups.
“We’re on a four-game winning streak heading into Mankato, and it’s going to be a fun weekend,” Flammang said. “After we lost those games to Ferris, we decided that it’s time to just start building. The scoreboard doesn't matter; we just have to start doing the little things right. … Our fans definitely deserved better than what they got the last couple of months. It’s nice to get them a sweep this weekend.”
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Bemidji State 2, Bowling Green (F/OT)
BGSU 0 0 1 0 – 1
BSU 0 0 1 1 – 2
First period – No scoring.
Second period – No scoring.
Third period – BGSU GOAL: Immonen () 7:42; BSU GOAL: Jutting (Funk, Parekh) EAG, 19:50.
Overtime – BSU GOAL: Flammang (Vaisanen, Sholl) 1:59.
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Saves – Sholl (BSU) 22; Moore (BGSU) 31.
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