Benilde-St. Margaret's Boys' Hockey

Jake O'Borsky returned to the Benilde-St. Margaret's lineup to score a pair of goals and added an assist as the Red Knights defeated Chisago Lakes, 7-0.

O'Borsky had missed three games with a concussion and returned to the lineup Saturday to find himself with new linemates.

Through the first seven games of the season, he had played the right wing with Dan Labosky and T.J. Moore but, against the Wildcats, he was playing the left wing with Christian Horn and Pat Steinhauser.

The result was a three-point night for O'Borsky and a goal for he and each of his new linemates.

"I liked the chemistry between Steinny, Horn, and O’Borsky," BSM head coach Ken Pauly said, who also returned to the bench after missing Tuesday's win over Cooper due to illness. "They weren’t just making the pretty plays, they were making the grubby ones too.

"It was good to see O’Borsky back in the line up. We have missed him the last three games."

The new line combo clicked for the game's first goal as O'Borsky came across the red line and gave the puck to Steinhauser, who streaked in on goal only to be twarted by Wildcat goalie Ben Bratrud. Horn, however, trailed the play and scored on the rebound to give BSM the only goal it would need.

Steinhauser notched his seventh goal of the season on another rush after defenseman Tyler Ellegard and Alec Anderson moved the puck across their own zone before Anderson's pass found Steinhauser in the neutral zone.

The Red Knight center carried the puck all the way into the Chisago Lakes zone before Bratrud stopped his first attempt but was unable to kick out his rebound.

Grant Besse, who replaced O'Borsky on the right side of the line with Labosky and Moore, scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season just 56 seconds into the second period before O'Borsky notched his two goals later in the period, 2:27 apart.

Moore then added BSM's sixth goal with 2:04 to play in the period and Chris Flood talied at 7:27 of the final period to round out the scoring.

After a blowout win over Cooper Tuesday, followed by a pair of one-goal wins last week, Pauly stated Saturday's win was the kind of game his team needed to play.

"As a coaching staff, we really liked the overall effort that our team brought to the game tonight," he said. "We were tough on the puck and we used our speed.

"Traditionally, we haven’t played our best hockey in Chisago’s rink but, tonight, we combined a win with a great effort. That hasn’t always been the case.

"It’s an important win for us in the North Suburban Conference because we always see Chisago as one of those feisty teams that can give you some trouble. It was nice to get a win on them and in their building."

Despite dominating much of the game, and outshooting the Wildcats, 54-19, BSM needed a quality outing from goalie Anders Jecha, who notched his second shutout of the season with his 19-save effort.

"We may have dominated the game, but Jecha really earned his shutout," Pauly said. "They had some point-blank chances in the first period and he shut them down."

With the win, the Red Knights are now 10-1-0 on the season and 3-0-0 in conference play, with 10 points in the standings.

They take that 10-1-0 record, and number-five ranking in the state, into Tuesday's home game with second ranked and defending state champion Edina. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.