The Jets scored three goals in 1:28 in the second period. Calumet coach Dan Giachino called a timeout to get his team focused. The Jets had three different two-goal leads, but still had to find one more goal 36 seconds after the Copper Kings took their second lead of the night.

Jets coach Aaron Helminen felt there was a singular reason his team found themselves in a tie game where they led by two three different times.

“We didn’t take care of the puck in the areas that you really need to take care of the puck,” he said. “As a result, it ends up in the back of the net.”

For the Copper Kings, the fact that they broke through in a big way offensively with six goals was great, but coach Dan Giachino still felt that his group, much like the Jets, did not do a good enough job of protecting the puck in key moments.

Calumet forward Luca Matous turns while looking for an open teammate during a game against Jeffers Friday at the Calumet Colosseum. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

“I think there were just a lot of mental lapses during the course of that game,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s from being a little bit warmer here in the building. I’m trying to think of some reasons or whatever, but I just went through, especially at early part of the second period, we kind of went out there and didn’t bring our brains with us in the beginning, and first half of the second period, and you give up three, four goals in a short period of time.”

Trailing Calumet 1-0 in the second period, the Jets got on the board just 1:27 in when co-captain Kailob Bianco backhanded one past Copper Kings goaltender Hunter Tuoriniemi off a pass from junior Benton Rajala.

Alternate captain Cody Turner put the Jets up just 80 seconds later when he drove into the slot, made a move around a Calumet defender and buried a wrist shot.

Just eight seconds after that, junior Brit Heinonen struck when he pounced on a rebound off a shot from Cody Turner and he buried it.

Giachino used his time out after that third Jets’ goal to try to rally his troops in what had become a silent Colosseum. A couple of minutes later, the Copper Kings responded.

Sophomore Ben Anderson pounced on a rebound and batted it home at 5:19.

That goal was key for the Copper Kings.

“We bounced back out there and got a goal within the first two, three shifts after that, and settled ourselves down,” Giachino said. “So, that was an important thing for us to see early in the season here.”

They had to endure some more mistakes and bounces first. Bianco struck again for the Jets at 8:32 when a shot from the right point from sophomore Griffin Heinonen rebounded out front, then bounced off a Calumet defender and right to Bianco, who turned a fired a shot that beat Tuoriniemi.

Calumet alternate captain Brendan Boberg, who got the scoring started with a goal at 14:24 of the first period, scored his second of the night at 12:21 of the second. Like his first goal, his second was also a rebound he knocked home.

The Jets led 4-3 until they earned a power play in the third. Senior Max Kangas fired a shot off the faceoff to Tuoriniemi’s right. The shot slid through traffic and underneath Tuoriniemi at 2:04.

Calumet scored twice in a 1:54 span to even things. Senior Luca Matous got the first off a well-placed pass from Cam Anderson at 6:24. Sophomore Nathan Keranen then scored the second one thanks to a perfectly-timed tip off a shot from junior Nels Loukus at 8:18.

The game remained 5-5 until Cam Anderson lifted a rebound home at 15:13. The initial shot was fired by Matous.

“I’m not a line experimenter,” said Giachino. “That’s not kind of been my M.O. over the years. I kind of value consistency with things. We just needed a little shake up of something, and tried to put a couple of different guys together. It fortunately paid off tonight.”

Looking for the equalizer, the Jets got it 36 seconds later when Brit Heinonen struck.

Aaron was looking for someone to step up to answer Calumet’s goal.

“Frustrating that we couldn’t close it out, but, I guess, down the stretch, right when the game was really big there,” said Aaron. “Once the game was tied, I think we got some strong play and you kind of character check a little bit, too. You see which guys can play in the big games.”

The two teams battled through an eight-minute overtime that saw more shots miss the net than hit it. The Jets had one last chance with 2.5 seconds left and a faceoff to Tuoriniemi’s right, but could not get a shot off from the faceoff win in time.

UP NEXT

Calumet will host Houghton on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Calumet Colosseum.

Jeffers is off until Thursday when they travel to face Manistique at 6 p.m.