Earlier this season, it was the Austin Packers who were hot.

Now, it’s the Albert Lea Tigers.

Albert Lea won its sixth consecutive boys’ hockey game while handing the Packers &045; who at one time had a commanding lead in the Big Nine &045; their fourth loss in a row 5-2 at the Albert Lea City Arena Monday night.

Afterward, Albert Lea coach Roy Nystrom said it was definitely an emotional game and victory for his squad.

&uot;There’s a lot of emotion in the game of hockey,&uot; said Nystrom. &uot;Whoever’s got the emotion has got the legs, and that’s what we needed tonight.&uot;

The Tigers, 15-9 overall, finished 9-5 in the conference while the Packers fell to 11-3-1 in the Big Nine and 14-6-1 overall.

Austin, 9-0 in conference play at one point this season, played its best hockey in the first period. But Tiger goalie Matt Tubbs turned away each of their nine shots on the net, some of them in spectacular fashion.

&uot;They could have blown us out if Tubbs hadn’t been on top of his game,&uot; said Nystrom.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead at 3:35 of the second period on a goal by Egan Mattson. Adam Boelter and Wade Westland assisted.

Austin answered about two minutes later, with David Seibel scoring on an assist from Andy Swank.

Albert Lea regained the lead on a breakaway goal by Boelter, who came out of the penalty box and took a pass from Tony Dugstad and beat the Packer netminder high on the glove side.

It remained 2-1 until 4:27 of the second, when Casey Schumaker slammed home his own rebound for a power play goal. Jon Breuer and Dugstad assisted.

Quinn Ellingson pulled the Packers within 3-2 at the 5:07 mark, with Eric Hansen assisting.

The Tigers, though, were not finished. Schumaker added a goal at 10:19, assisted by Breuer, and Westland scored at 11:33 on an assist from Boelter.

The Tigers are off until Saturday, when they’ll host Waseca or Luverne in a Section 1A tournament game at the City Arena.