Escanaba's Jeff Lyle (11) plays the puck as goaltender Nick LeMire watches.

"For me, it was nice to see, because they made us work hard, and they made us play even more disciplined," Escanaba Coach Tim McCarthy said. "We've been sloppy the last few games, and they came out aggressive and made us work."

"They came out and they competed," Wunder said of the Bobcat team. "They put a lot of pressure on us when we were coughing the puck up. But, I thought it was a pretty good effort. We stayed strong and we just ended it. We were happy to get the mercy."

The one thing that was noticable was that Grand Blanc played the body and hit much more than the Eskymos' previous opponents.

Mostly, that was a good thing, getting Escanaba ready for several tough games on the upcoming schedule.

However, there were two plays in the third period that were not good. The first was a vicious cross-check on defenseman Derek Chaillier, who was crushed into the boards and ended up crawling on all-fours off of the ice. He ended up with a very sore back.
 

Dan Ritter scores.

"He just got me in the lower back," Chaillier said. "It just struck me, I guess."

The second was even worse, as freshman Hunter LaMarch was barrelled into the glass by Bobcat Chaney Finn, who was given a five-minute major penalty and was ejected from the game. LaMarch ended up with a swollen knee and a really bad headache.
 

Wunder made Grand Blanc pay for that penalty by scoring his hat trick goal with 6:12 left in the third period. Nick Vandermissen's goal with 2:26 ended the game at 9-1.

Wunder's best work came on his 20th goal of the season late in the second period.

Eskymo goalie Nick LeMire stopped a two-on-one point-blank shot at one end, and Wunder finished at the other end on an electrifying goal.

"He moves the puck and he makes people look silly," McCarthy said. "The nice thing about it is that he's always got a teammate there to back him up. He's got a real good eye for the play, good hands, and is very unselfish."
 

Ben Lasecki goal.

Ben Lasecki set the tone early with two goals in the first period, and with physical play at all ends of the ice. He ended up with four goals on the weekend.

"No one was even coming at me," Lasecki said of his power play goal. "So I had a straight lane to the net, so I just put 'er there."

McCarthy liked Lasecki's physical, yet disciplined play.
 

Eskymo T.J. Myrick tries to jam one in past Grand Blanc goalie Mitch Behn.

"Very good," the coach said. "Ben kept his hands down, arms down, and stick down. He was very aggresive with them. There were a lot of big hits out there, open ice. I'm proud that our boys were disciplined, no retailiation. Grand Blanc gave us a really good fight."

Four of Escanaba's nine goals came on the power play. Besides Wunder's hat trick and Lasecki's two goals four other goals were scored: by Jake Eastin, Dan Ritter, Dominic Aos, and Vandermissen. Eastin and Vandermissen also added three-assist playmakers.

Escanaba (9-2-0) outshot Grand Blanc (3-4-2), 42-18. Jack Clary scored the only Bobcat goal in the second period, as LeMire had 17 saves for the Eskymos. Grand Blanc goaltender Mitch Behm made 33 saves in a losing effort.

The Eskymos travel to Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, and to Calumet next Saturday.
 

Levi Wunder makes moves and scores.

"We need to have a good practice on Monday," Wunder said. "I think we will battle hard, stick together, and pull out a 'W'. Same for Calumet. If we stay strong, stay together, I think we can do it."

"I really like the Pullar, but the boards hurt a little bit when you get hit," Lasecki said. "It's a cool rink to play in. The fans are right in the game. And I do not like the Armory at all. The teams are gonna be tough. We've just got to bring it to them." 

"The kids are focused on it," McCarthy said. "Hopefully, we can carry this momentum."

Tuesday's game at Pullar Stadium starts at 7:00, and Saturday's game at the Armory starts at 6:00. Both will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Tracy Pinar, videos taken by Luke Anthony, and audio highlights and interviews from the game and post-game show.