Dow High’s Johnny Wilson had never scored a hat trick against crosstown rival Midland High heading into Wednesday’s Saginaw Valley League hockey matchup at the Midland Civic Arena.

Now, he can check that one off his bucket list.

Wilson scored three times, including twice in the first two and a half minutes of the game, and sophomore goaltender Jeremy Slasor did the rest as the Chargers swept the season series from the Chemics with a 3-1 victory.

“It’s pretty awesome. ... It’s been a while (since I’ve had a hat trick). Nothing as special as this one,” Wilson said with a smile. “ ... It’s sweet. There’s nothing sweeter than beating Midland.”

Dow, which beat Midland 5-4 in their first meeting in mid-December, dominated play for much of the game, outshooting the Chemics by a slim 29-24 margin but creating many more good scoring opportunities than did MHS.

Midland goalie Weondong Hwang made 26 saves in a losing effort after stopping 35 shots in his first meeting with the Chargers. Slasor had 23 saves for Dow.

Chargers’ coach Dick Blasy noted that scoring early was a big key.

“That was part of the game plan — to jump on them early,” Blasy said. “The last time we played them, Weondong (Hwang) got really hot, and we wanted to do our best to make sure he didn’t get the opportunity to do that again. And I think the boys really responded, coming out with the two big goals.”

Wilson scored on two plays which were remarkably similar, beginning with a backhanded flip past Hwang off the rebound of Nick Sleeper’s initial shot, making it 1-0 only 11 seconds into the contest. Then, only moments later, Wilson gathered in another rebound, this time off of Andrew Michalowski’s shot, and backhanded it past Hwang again for a 2-0 lead at 2:42 of the first period.

“Coach (Blasy) told us to crash the net and (don’t worry about doing) anything pretty and just keep grinding goals, and that’s what we did, and it worked,” said Wilson. “ ... Coach said to get on them early, and that’s what we did. It worked out, and we got the win, which is special.”

MHS coach Jeff Brown admitted that the poor start put his team in a real bind.

“We got off to another slow start, a two-goal hole,” he said. “That’s a big hole when you don’t score much.”

The Chargers continued to carry play throughout the rest of the period, outshooting the Chemics 11-4 and creating 12 scoring opportunities to Midland’s three, but Dow ended up settling for a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Chemics skated and forechecked considerably better early in the second period, but a rash of penalties kept Midland from getting into any kind of rhythm. And when the Chemics had the man-advantage themselves, it was Dow which capitalized.

Midway through the period, Alex Farrell picked off an errant pass at mid-ice, skated into the Midland zone, and fired a shorthanded shot at point-blank range which Hwang saved. Only 16 seconds later, with MHS still on the power play, Farrell again collected an MHS turnover at center ice and carried the puck into the Chemics’ zone. This time, Farrell lost control of the puck, but Wilson, who was trailing the play, rifled a shot low past Hwang from the slot for a 3-0 lead at 7:56 of the period.

That lead held up until the third period when Midland’s Tyler Squires bore down on Slasor during an odd-man rush and flipped a wrister toward the net. The puck was redirected beautifully by Mitchell Gardner, who was camped out near the crease, past Slasor for the Chemics’ lone goal at 5:20 of the period.

In the game’s waning minutes, Midland had a glorious opportunity to make it interesting when Dow was whistled for a slashing penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in quick succession, giving the Chemics two full minutes of a 5-on-3 power play at 14:45.

And with time winding down, Midland pulled Hwang out of net, making it a 6-on-3 advantage for most of the final minute, but the Chemics were unable to get a shot past Slasor.

“At the end, when we had gotten ourselves back in it at 3-1 and then we had a three-man advantage, we need to get a goal there, and we didn’t,” said Brown. “I thought the keys to the game were putting ourselves in the two-goal hole (early on) and then not being able to capitalize at the end.

“ ... I just told the guys (that) it’s not that we aren’t trying,” he added. “But at the end of the day, in big games, the top guys have got to get it done, and we didn’t.”

Blasy said his Chargers have been embracing his philosophy of keeping the game simple, being aggressive, and playing fast.

“We always try to do that to the best of our ability — get that first shot on net and create second and third opportunities,” he said. “ ... We’re working on it. It’s always a process. But the boys are starting to buy in from the standpoint of getting the puck across our blue line as fast as possible and getting it into their zone as fast as possible and forechecking like crazy.

“ ... I thought we definitely had more quality chances (than Midland) outside of some penalty kills we had to get through,” he added. “I thought 5-on-5 we really limited their quality chances.”

Both coaches credited Slasor for a strong game in net.

“Early on, the chances and shots we had weren’t good shots, weren’t quality scoring chances,” said Brown. “But as the game went on, we had a few more quality opportunities, and their goalie stood tall.”

Blasy agreed.

“He (Slasor) was solid,” Blasy said, adding with a grin, “ ... We don’t practice (6-on-3 penalty kills) that much, but the boys did a fantastic job of just keeping things tight. And your goalie’s got to be your best penalty-killer, no matter how many men you’re down.”

Dow (13-7 overall, 3-2 in the Valley) heads to the Saginaw Bay Ice Arena on Friday to face the Tri-Valley Titans, while Midland (12-10, 3-3) will host Grand Haven next Friday.