Jake Kleinsasser lifted the Pine City/Rush City Dragons to a 7-3 victory with a hat trick against the North Branch Vikings.

Kleinsasser got on the scoresheet 1:10 into the first period. He then added goals at 43 seconds into the second and at 14:13 into the third.

North Branch's power play was ineffective against Pine City/Rush City's penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.

The Dragons excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in six chances. Pine City/Rush City surpassed its usual scoring output this season. The Dragons have scored at the pace of 2.1 goals per game during the current campaign.

Pine City/Rush City additionally got points from TJ Gross, who also finished with one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Pine City/Rush City also had goals scored by Zach Smith, who had one and Casey Lucht, who had two. In addition, Pine City/Rush City received assists from Dewy Carr, who had three and Colton Brant and Ashton LeBrun, who contributed one a piece.

The Vikings stifled Pine City/Rush City's power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. North Branch kept the Dragons' goalie busy throughout the game, and Danny Pitzen made 38 saves on 41 shots.

The Vikings were helped by Connor Martineau, who racked up one goal. Martineau scored 4:02 into the second period to make the score 4-3 Pine City/Rush City. Brandon Timm assisted on the tally. Nate Runberg also scored for North Branch. More assists for North Branch came via Mitchell Patten and Caleb Larson, who each chipped in one.

Pine City/Rush City totaled 15 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 0-for-4 on the power play. North Branch's Donovan Stefan stopped 17 shots out of the 24 that he faced. The Vikings incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.