Bobby Shusta lifted the Ely/Northeast Range Timberwolves to a 5-3 victory with a hat trick against the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears.

Shusta's first goal came 5:35 into the first period. He then added goals at 6:00 into the first and at 16:17 into the second.

Ely/Northeast Range led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the Timberwolves' Louis Gerzin's scored at 14:44 in the first period to put Ely/Northeast Range up 4-1.

The Timberwolves managed to stay out of the box better than usual, finishing with one minor for two minutes in penalty time. Ely/Northeast Range wound up below its season average of 14.0 penalty minutes per game. The Timberwolves found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. Ely/Northeast Range averages 2.6 goals per game.

Ely/Northeast Range additionally got points from Gerzin, who also grabbed one goal and one assist and Carter Manning, who also tallied one goal and one assist. In addition, Ely/Northeast Range received assists from John Schreffler, who had two.

Eveleth-Gilbert forced the Timberwolves goalie Kael Richards to work between the pipes, taking 49 shots.

The Golden Bears were led by Mitchell Huffman, who racked up two goals and one assist. Huffman scored the first of his two goals at 7:54 into the second period to make the score 4-2 Ely/Northeast Range. Stephen Day picked up the assist. Huffman's next tally made the score 4-3 Ely/Northeast Range with 6:05 left in the second period. Nick Moe provided the assist. Eveleth-Gilbert also got a goal from Sam Roberts as well. More assists for Eveleth-Gilbert came via Richard Craven, Luke Rozinka, and Brett Kivela, who contributed one a piece.

Richards recorded 46 saves for Ely/Northeast Range. The Timberwolves registered zero goals on zero power play opportunities. Eveleth-Gilbert's Chad Hietela stopped 23 shots out of the 28 that he faced. The Golden Bears finished the contest with no penalties and went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.