The Wildcats dominated against Escanaba on Tuesday, ending in a 5-0 win. Alpena was spectacular on the defensive end all night, which turned out to be its key to success.

“(Aiden) Schultz played well on the pipes for us and I thought our defense moved the puck quick. We also made the right decisions and were fast out of the zone. We didn’t force anything that was unnecessary… it was definitely more of a team effort on the defensive side,” Alpena coach Ben Henry said.

Although Alpena finished with a commanding win, the offense started very slowly. But from the start of the game until the end, Schultz was lights out in net for Alpena.

With 11:41 left in the first period, the Eskymos fired a great shot at the net, but Schultz made an incredible save on the puck. Only 30 seconds later, Schultz recorded another big save.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Harrison Kaszubowski (20) skates toward the net during the opening period of a hockey game on Tuesday against Escanaba at Northern Lights Arena. Kaszubowski and the Wildcats dominated the Eskymos in a 5-0 win on the opening day of the Alpena Showcase.

Even though the Wildcats’ offense wasn’t playing like it needed to, the defense picked up the slack and kept Alpena in the game.

After the first period ended with a 0-0 score, Alpena got on the board almost immediately. Just 39 seconds into the second period, Reid Meinhardt struck a shot perfectly into Escanaba’s net. Meinhardt’s goal was assisted by Anden Marceau and Harrison Kaszubowski, giving the Wildcats the 1-0 lead.

About five minutes later with 11:09 left on the clock, Alpena had another amazing opportunity to score. The Wildcats shot the puck on goal, but just narrowly hit the crossbar leaving the Eskymos with a huge break.

Schultz made two more valuable saves with six minutes left in the second period. The Eskymos shot the puck back-to-back times, but Schultz was there to knock them off course.

Just 20 seconds later, Alpena scored again. This time it was Kaszubowski with the goal and the assist went to Marceau again. This goal extended Alpena’s lead to 2-0 in the second period.

Alpena’s Anden Marceau lets a shot go during the first period of Tuesday’s game.

The Wildcats struck another time with 4:02 left in the second. This time James Kuhl got in on the action and scored the goal. Kuhl’s goal was assisted by Meinhardt and Kaszubowski.

With a 3-0 lead entering the third period, all the Wildcats needed to do was hold on to the lead. Not only did Alpena do that, but it increased its lead even more. Meinhardt got credit for his second goal of the game with the assists going to Marceau and Kaszubowski again.

Alpena maintained the pressure on the net, even scoring its fifth goal of the game. This time with 2:05 left, Garrett Hamp finished off the game with a goal and the assist going to Gavin Winterstein.

“Tonight was a great game and a great defensive effort by the whole team,” Henry said. “Tomorrow we have Cap. City and they’re a finesse team. They have a lot of high-end talent and I expect it to be a really good game,”

Alpena faces off against Cap. City today.