Rarely do you see a team win a game by five goals while being outshot.

White Bear Lake managed six goals on just 15 shots in a 6-1 win over Suburban East Conference and Class AA, Section 4 rival Woodbury on Thursday night at the Vadnais Sports Center.

“I’d take six goals on six shots,” Bears’ head coach Tim Sager said after the win. “The more you can put in the net, the better off you are,” Sager continued. “You watch enough hockey and you’ve seen teams that get 50 to 60 shots and they lose by a goal.”

Hard to argue with that.

The Bears (12-6-4, 9-3-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, with senior forward Connor Bjornberg scoring the first and junior Chase Hamstad netting the next two tallies.

Bjornberg would add a second goal in the second period, as junior Max Jenrich and senior Brock Larson scored within mere seconds of each other to give the Bears a 6-0 lead entering the final period.

Woodbury senior Ben Wahlin scored the lone goal of the game for the Royals (14-8-0, 8-6-0). 

“The first time we were over there, we had just come off tying Edina,” Sager said, referring to the Jan. 7 loss the Bears suffered at the hands of the Royals. “I think (the players) thought they were pretty good, and could just chill out.”

Hamstad scored twice in the win to run his goal total to 15 for the season. He echoed Sager’s statement, saying that the added incentive of defeating a possible postseason opponent helped sharpen the players.

“Our focus wasn’t there the first game,” Hamstad said. “This game I think right from the start, from the drop, this (could be) a big win for us. This was one of those top teams that we needed to beat to get to that top Section spot,” Hamstad added.

Both Hill-Murray and Stillwater, ranked No. 9 and No. 5, respectively, in the latest Class AA state coaches’ poll, figure to be in the running for the top seed in section play.

The No. 17 Bears have tied the Pioneers and defeated the Ponies, with their second matchup with Stillwater coming in the final regular season game on Feb. 16.

If the Bears intend to make a deep postseason run, they’ll count heavily on the top line of juniors Hamstad, Max Jenrich and Austin Carroll, a group that Hamstad says he’s happily familiar with.

“It’s fantastic playing with the linemates I (played with) in Bantams,” Hamstad said. “The chemistry’s always there, and I can always rely on (Jenrich) and Carroll at the same time.”