ROCHESTER, Minn. — In a wild, penalty-filled matchup that swung dramatically in the third period, the Rochester Grizzlies stormed back from a three-goal deficit but ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime to the Wisconsin Woodsmen on Friday night at the Rochester Recreation Center.
Despite a scoreless opening frame, the game hardly lacked intensity. Both teams traded early pushes, with Rochester generating 19 first-period shots but unable to solve Woodsmen goaltender Alex Rivolta, who turned aside 44 of 47 shots he faced in a stellar performance.
Wisconsin struck first in the second period as the special teams battle took over. Brodie Mich (3) opened the scoring before Tristian Pownall (2) doubled the lead later in the frame, giving the Woodsmen a 2–0 advantage after 40 minutes. The period also featured a parade to the penalty box, including matching roughing minors and misconducts to Myles Bible and Cooper Johnson during a scrum with 38 seconds left in the period.
Held without a shot through the first six minutes of the final frame, the Grizzlies saw themselves fall down three from another power-play goal.
The Grizzlies came out firing after that, however, flipping the momentum entirely.
Mason Decker (18) finally broke through at 12:50 on the power play, sparking Rochester’s surge. Less than four minutes later, Decker buried again and Ole Fevold (7) secured the equalizer to electrify the home crowd and erase the earlier deficit. Rochester’s penalty kill came up with timely stops during the comeback, including a late third-period kill after a hooking call at 1:36.
But despite the comeback, the Grizzlies couldn’t finish the job in overtime.
Just 1:01 into the extra frame, Brandon Slasor (2) buried the game-winner, his second point of the night, securing the road victory for the Woodsmen and handing Rochester its sixth home loss of the season.
Kyle Lappi was strong throughout for the Grizzlies, making 44 saves on 48 shots in the loss. Rivolta’s 44-save performance earned him first-star honors, while Wisconsin’s Ty Paulios and Rochester’s Decker rounded out the three stars.
The loss drops Rochester to 9-7-1-0, snapping their brief two-game win streak. Wisconsin improves to 5-14-1-1, picking up its second straight win and its first road victory of the season.
After losing in overtime the night prior, the Grizzlies returned the favor in their annual Teddy Bear Toss night, defeating the Woodsmen 4-3 off a Konnor Goclan (3) overtime winner.
Rochester had a similar start to the game as the previous night, dominating in the shots department and maintaining steady pressure.
That pressure eventually led to the Teddy Bear goal being scored on the power play by Mason Decker (20) , tying his season total from last year with 20.
The Woodsmen wouldn’t go away without a fight, however, as Ty Paulios (13) secured his second hat-trick in the month of November, tying the game then giving Wisconsin the 2-1 and 3-2 lead late in the third period.
When it looked like the Grizzlies might be out for the count, Sawyer Zaruba (1) was a one-man show tying things up just minutes after to send the game to extra hockey yet again.
The extra frame was thrilling back-and-forth action, until Baylor Stebbins worked himself free along the far wall and slid it across for Goclan to move the Grizzlies to 10-7-1-0 on the season and finish the home portion of 2025 with a win.
Rochester has three games during the Thanksgiving week, with road trips to Alexandria and West Bend and a chance to continue momentum before the showcase.