Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall senior defender Nate Drown moves the puck up the ice in the first period against Minnesota River Saturday afternoon at the Red Baron Arena in Marshall. Drown scored a goal in the Tigers 4-0 road win over Windom Monday night, snapping a six-game losing skid.

WINDOM — Four different players scored a goal to bring the Marshall boys hockey team back into the win column, snapping a six-game losing skid, with a 4-0 defeat over Windom on the road Monday night in a Big South Conference matchup.

The Tigers went into Monday coming off a competitive 3-1 loss to Minnesota River on Saturday, and made a statement against Windom after hanging on to a 1-0 lead after the first period before catching fire with a three-goal final period.

Nate Drown finished with a team-high 3 points with a goal and pair of assists, while Carson Kopitski and Jacob Allen both with 2 points behind a goal and an assist.

Kopitski got the scoring started in the first period on a power play, with assists from Drown and Allen in the 13th minute.

After a scoreless second period, Drown, Allen and Koda Peterson all netted a goal to send the Tigers home with a victory.

The trio of goals were scored sporadically, with Kopitski finding Drown in the second minute, Allen scoring on a power play at the 7:30 mark, and Peterson put the dagger on the day in the 16th minute just before the final buzzer rang. Brenden Price and Drown both assisted on Peterson’s goal.

McCoy Guenther finished with a perfect night, saving all 18 of Windom’s shots. Marshall held offensive control with 49 shots.

SATURDAY

MARSHALL –Entering the final period tied up with pressure building up, the Marshall boys hockey team came up short in a 3-1 section and Big South Conference loss to Minnesota River Saturday afternoon, after the Bulldogs scored twice in the third period. Junior forward Jacob Allen scored the Tigers’ goal in the second period that initially tied the game up.

“I thought we stepped up and played really well,” Marshall head coach Michael Weiss said. “We went toe-to-toe with them [Minnesota River] all the way to the end. So, we definitely improved from our previous game, which was good to see. We’re getting better with each one.”

The opening period was competitive, both teams going scoreless, as was the second period with the Bulldogs and Tigers each scoring once before Minnesota River finished the night off in the third, and limited the opportunity for overtime.

“We came in played well. We battled through it, and even though we didn’t come out on top, we still played pretty well,” Allen said.

Minnesota River outshot Marshall 39-11 overall, and senior goalie McCoy Guenther finished the day with his 36 saves and an impressive .923 save percentage.

Saturday’s game also had a bigger meaning off the ice, as Marshall hosted its annual Stick it to Cancer night. All players presented a name of a close one currently battling or who previously had the disease, detailing someone they were playing for. A video played throughout intermissions of the players holding up a board with their loved ones’ names.

“It feels good [to play in these games]. Every day, you hear of people that are affected by cancer,” Weiss said. “I’m a cancer survivor. I know a lot of our kids have grandparents who are going through it, so it’s good to help raise a little bit of money and just think about those people for the day.”

“It means a lot to us,” Allen added regarding the annual Stick it to Cancer game. “We have people that we can work for and we can play for, and it’s just really fun to see lots of people out there and just working hard for them.”

The Tigers and Bulldogs entered the final period tied with tensions rising.

“We are still in this one, we can come out on top and to just keep working hard and keep doing what we’re doing,” Allen said about the team’s message entering the third period.

Minnesota River’s Riley Kamm scored the go-ahead goal with 10:40 to go unassisted, and the Bulldogs ultimately put the dagger on their win three minutes later with 7:43 of gameplay left after maintaining control from there on between the neutral zone and in Marshall territory.

Minnesota River originally took the lead in the fifth minute of the second period, and came out with more offensive intensity.

But, Allen returned the favor and tied the game back up six minutes later with 5:29 to go with an assist from Carson Kopitski, and finished the play taking the puck up the right side of the goal and sending it to the back left while nearing the crease with space.

“We just worked really well as a team [today]. We were down some guys, have a lot of injured players, we just we played well together,” Allen said. “We got some good breakouts, and [had] some good team playing.”

With the injuries and challenges the Tigers are working through, Allen credited the team for maintaining a next-man-up mentality while dealing with adversity.

“We’ve got different players that are stepping up, playing some different roles,” Weiss said. “Carson Kopitski went back and played defense, and we’ve got some guys playing almost half the game. So, it’s just been a team effort to fill in when other guys can’t go, and they’ve been handling it well.”

The opening period set the competitive tone from the jump, with the Bulldogs slightly outshooting the Tigers 8-4.

Marshall (2-7) will next return to the ice next Monday, taking on Bismark, N.D., at 4 p.m. in the Essentia Health West Fargo Winter Classic at the Lights Ice Rink, which is outdoors.

“We just got to keep getting better in our [defensive] zone, and finding ways to generate some more shots,” Weiss said. “Having a few days to rest up and get healthy will be nice, too. We got a few guys that are banged up and could use a couple days off.”