EVELETH-GILBERT HOLDS ON TO BEAT PIRATE BOYS HOCKEY

The Crookston Pirates battled back from down 3-0 to tie to send Saturday’s game against Eveleth-Gilbert to overtime, but the Pirates were unable to muster any offense following a five-minute major issued to the Golden Bears before Elliot Van Orsdel backhanded a puck past Noah Dragseth to give the Golden Bears a 4-3 victory.  “I thought we played well being short-handed, better than we played Friday night,” said Pirate coach Josh Hardy.  “I was impressed in the third period we had two defensemen who had never played offense alternating in as forwards, and I thought they held their own.”

Both Logan Wardner, who was carted off Friday night on a stretcher, and Ben Andringa who went to the hospital Saturday morning with limited feeling in his hands missed the game.  “Logan went down and was taken out on a stretcher and suffered a concussion.  He’s going to be fine, he’ll be going through the concussion protocol, and he is home resting,” said coach Hardy.  “Ben ended up having a pinched nerve in his back, had to go in today and we were without him today as well.  He should also hopefully be fine with a little rest.”

First period –
Saturday’s matchup opened at fervent pace with eight shots over the opening two minutes as both teams raced up and down the ice.  The Pirates were outshot in the opening two minutes 5 to 3, and the last one by the Golden Bears giving them a 1-0 lead.  Nick Beaudette skated down the left end of the slot and lifted a backhander from the hash marks over the stick side shoulder of Dragseth with 15:01 to play in the first.  Midway through the period, the Pirates took back to back penalties, first Heppner for holding with 9:31 to play and nine seconds after his penalty ended Jacob Anderson was issued a minor for roughing.  The Golden Bears had numerous opportunities to extend their lead before Beaudette found Van Orsdel streaking up the center of the ice.  Van Orsdel walked across the top of the crease and lifted a backhand over the outstretched right leg of Dragseth for a power play goal to make it 2-0 with 5:41 to go in the period. “Back to back penalties like that to two important members of our penalty kill are had to overcome,” said Hardy.  “It becomes even harder to kill off those penalties when two of our other top penalty killers missed the game with an injury.”  Despite the fast start, Crookston finished with just one shot on goal over the final 15 minutes of the period and trailed 2-0.  

Second period-
Eveleth-Gilbert came out of the first intermission strong and with 10:47 to go Cody Stanisich took a pass from Brendan Graves and backhanded a shot stick side between Dragseth and the post for a 3-0 lead.  The Pirates who were outshot nearly 3 to 1 in the game started to dig out of the hole when Eric Delorme skated in between two defenders before losing the puck into the left corner.  Delorme then circled back to his familiar perch on the left boards before shooting off the wall as the puck came free to the left circle and as he crossed the ice just above the hash marks ripped a shot past the Golden Bears goaltender for an unassisted goal with 7:12 to go in the period cutting the lead to 3-1.  The Pirates used the Delorme goal to build momentum, and three minutes later Joey Doda fed a pass from behind the net to Brock Heppner who couldn’t pull the trigger and the Golden Bears cleared the puck to the blue line.  Noah Kiel was able to hold the zone and tried to play the puck back in front of the net, but it was blocked down right onto the stick of Delorme standing above the hash marks who sizzled a wrist shot stick side to the back of the net for his team-leading ninth of the year with 3:55 to go in the period.  The goal was Delorme’s seventh in the past five games and his third multi-goal game in the last four.  “Eric is one of the top forwards in the section and has the ability to create opportunities for himself and others,” said Hardy.  “Early in the season he was maybe passing up a few looks to create a chance for his teammates, but he’s got the ability to put the puck in the net, and he’s shown the last few games the willingness to take the shot when it presents itself.”

Third period-
In the third period Sam Overgaard to a two-minute minor for cross-checking that the Pirates were able to kill off having one of their best nights on the penalty stopping four-of-five power play opportunities for Eveleth-Gilbert. “For being shorthanded on the penalty kill with Logan and Ben out I was impressed with how we played,” said Hardy.  Just 47 seconds after leaving the box Overgaard forced a turnover in front of the Golden Bears bench carried the puck across the ice to the top of the right circle and lit the lamp with a sharp wrister wired over the goaltender’s glove to tie the game 3-3 with 10:35 to play.  The Pirates kept up the pressure throughout the period but couldn’t come up with the game-winner before the end of regulation.  “Sam as a forward converted to defense has the ability to step up and help us offensively,” said Hardy.  “He’s got a nice shot when he can use his long stride to get a step on the defense.”

Overtime-
The Pirates started overtime shorthanded after Anderson was whistled for a roughing minor at the end of regulation.  The Pirates were able to kill off the penalty, but it took away their momentum, and the Pirates spent most of the extra session on their heels.  The Pirates finished the game on the power play when the Golden Bears Ty Mason was given a five-minute major and 10-minute misconduct for checking from behind with contact to the head for a hit that leveled Doda in the corner with 4:25 to play.  The Pirates, however, struggled to get the puck past the red line during the entire power play before Nathan Tassoni forced an Eric Delorme turnover at center ice.  Van Orsdel picked up the puck and was one-on-one with Anderson when Anderson went down to try to take away the pass and low shot Orsdel used a toe drag to move past towards the left post and backhanded the game-winner past Dragseth for a 4-3 win with just 34 seconds remaining in overtime.  “You almost always want an opportunity on the power play as the extra skater is a big advantage,” said Hardy.  “But the way we were playing five-on-five, I felt pretty good about our chances for a win, and we just couldn’t get the power play going there in overtime.”

Dragseth made a career-high 36 saves in the loss.  “I thought both of our goaltenders played very well this weekend,” said Hardy.  “I was happy for Jack with the way he played Friday, and Noah played well today so we’ll keep the rotation going as they push each other for time.”

Crookston falls to 2-8-1 and will return to the ice on Friday, January 4 with a home game against section foe Detroit Lakes at 7:30 p.m.   Eveleth-Gilbert improves to 8-5 and will have nine days off before they host Hibbing/Chisholm on January 8.

1st Period
15:01 – Eveleth-Gilbert –  Nick Beaudette (Josh James)
5:41 – Eveleth-Gilbert – Elliot Van Orsdel (Nick Beaudette) PP

2nd Period
10:47 – Eveleth Gilbert – Cody Stanisich (Brendan Graves, Gage Johnson)
7:12 – Crookston – Eric Delorme (8) (unassisted)
3:55 – Crookston – Eric Delorme (9) (Noah Kiel)

3rd Period
13:22 – Crookston – Sam Overgaard (2) (unassisted)

Overtime
:34 –  Eveleth-Gilbert – Elliot Van Orsdel (Nathan Tassoni) SH