January 31st found the Vikings facing the Blaine Bengals in a match-up featuring two teams with 10+ wins each.
For a change, North Branch scored first when winger Cory Husnik, assisted by defensemen Nate Obitz and Ryan Sowka, sent the puck past the Blaine goalie.
Blaine countered four minutes later and tied the score at one a piece.
J. T. Lindholm put in a goal, assisted by Husnik, just 16 seconds later.
Still in the first period, Husnik grabbed another goal with a hard, upper corner shot that clanked hard before dropping behind the bewildered Blaine goalie. Husnik was assisted on his second goal by Justin Weber and defenseman, Pat Hughes.
With :01 left on the clock in the first period, Weber let loose a shot from the top of the right circle that found a way past the Blaine goalie and North Branch took a commanding 4-1 lead.
The pace of the second period was much like that of the first, with a goal by Obitz as he followed up the play and was given a pass from Lindholm.
Blaine then found themselves in a penalty kill situation and was scored on when Marshall Mishler tapped in a goal with assists going Kyle Kaminski and Aaron Cedergren.
To cap off the second period, Husnik scored his third goal of the contest, with assists awarded to Mike Halvorsen and Lindholm.
The 7-1 score was how the game ended as goalie Chris Lindberg turned away 18 Blaine shots to finalize a nice win by the Vikings.
