Jan. 13 is kind to Chagrin

This hasn’t been the best winter in Chagrin Falls — and not because of anything involving snow totals.

Entering Jan. 13 at the NDCL Winter Invitational, the Tigers were 6-12.

Exiting Jan. 13 at the NDCL Winter Invitational, the Tigers are 8-12.

Suffice to say, that feels a whole lot better at Chagrin.

Matt Witalec netted the tying goal in the second period and the eventual game-winner in the third to lift the Tigers to a wild 5-4 win over NDCL. It was a nice bookend after dispatching Brecksville-Broadview Heights, 5-2, in Chagrin’s early game amid a tweaked tournament schedule due to the awful weather Jan. 12.

“This would be a nice time for a turning point to the season,” Tigers coach Jim Revak said. “Winning earlier this afternoon, and winning now — hopefully, it’s all good for us to get some wins, some success in order to build the momentum.

“The nice thing was we moved the puck well this weekend. We’re spreading out a lot more. But we’ve also finalized some of our lines, so that really helps. I think we were still scrambling to find lines with all of these young guys entering the lineup.”

One of the older guys in the lineup provided the equalizer and the separation here. Down, 4-3, late in the second period, Witalec struck 34 seconds into a power play after a Lions’ highsticking penalty.

Then at the 4:06 mark of the third, the senior defenseman lit the lamp again.

In a game bogged down on special teams, it appeared for stretches an old Blue Division-style shootout would be in the offing with these longtime foes. But Chagrin showed mettle late to stave off the win.

“I think we really learned as a team,” Witalec said. “Our team really got back to the basics. I think for a couple weeks, we’ve been mixing up lines — we’ve been having some issues on that front in terms of meshing as a team. Today, most of our goals were assisted goals, which is something you really want to see.”

It marked just the Tigers’ second win in seven tries against NDCL (6-10-1), dating to 2012.

Chagrin took a 2-0 lead out of the opening period off a first-class one-timer from the blue line by Andrew Guggenheim and Ted Aerni pouncing on a turnover and going five-hole.

Connor Zoul had a pair of second-period goals for NDCL, including a slick speed job through the neutral zone to the right bar for a 3-2 lead with 2:07 left before intermission.

“I think the first takeaway is we should have went to Chipotle like they did,” Lions coach Paul Bilyk said with a laugh. “Back and forth — probably sloppier version of (a 3-2 NDCL win over Chagrin on Jan. 6).

“They got the extra bounce this week, and we didn’t. It’s two tired teams coming back on relatively short rest, and they got one more bounce. Hats off — congratulations.”