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CROOKSTON BOY’S HOCKEY CAN’T GET OFFENSE GOING IN LOSS TO HIBBING

The Crookston Pirates Boy’s Hockey team was back inside the Crookston Sports Center on Friday night for a battle against the Hibbing Bluejackets. Crookston was coming off a 4-2 loss on Tuesday night against Kittson County Central and was looking for their 3rd win of the season. However, they will continue searching for their 3rd win, as Hibbing scored three goals a-piece in the first two periods on their way to a 6-0 victory.

FIRST-PERIOD –

The first period was all about the special teams, as Hibbing was able to score two Power Play goals and one shorthanded goal to take a 3-0 lead after one period of play. “We knew coming in they were going to be tough on the Power Play,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “The shorthanded goal was kind of a bad bounce, and the first Power Play we’d like to have back but that’s hockey and they outworked us in the first period.” Crookston had a strong start to the game, but as soon as Hibbing had their first man advantage, they drove the net and beat Jaren Bailey to make the score 1-0 at the 8:31 mark. Shortly after, Crookston would have a Power Play opportunity, but the Bluejackets would be the ones finding the scoreboard for a shorthanded goal to stretch the lead to 2-0. At the end of the Pirates Power Play, they would commit a penalty, giving Hibbing another opportunity on the Power Play, and once again they would score with the man advantage to take a 3-0 lead with 4:31 remaining in the period. The score would stay there heading into the second period. Hibbing outshot Crookston 16-5 in the first seventeen minutes and was 2-2 on Power Plays while Crookston was 0-1.

SECOND-PERIOD –

It took 4:31 into the second period for Hibbing to stretch the lead to 4-0. Shortly after that, the Bluejackets scored another goal, and the score was 5-0. Crookston took a timeout after the fifth goal, and the next several minutes of the period looked like a much better hockey team. “The message in that timeout was we need to hit the reset button,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “We needed a quick break to put things together and I told the boys we just need to start playing loose and have some fun. We started playing better and guys started trusting their teammates and everyone was doing their job.” Crookston controlled the pace and had more shots on goal in the final ten minutes of the period, but Hibbing would put an end to the Pirates momentum, with a goal late in the period with just 19 seconds to go. That would make the score 6-0 Hibbing and the teams would skate into the locker rooms after two periods of play with the Bluejackets in front 6-0. Hibbing outshot Crookston 28-17 through the first two periods.

THIRD-PERIOD –

The third period was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League Rules as Hibbing was leading by 6+ goals. Each team would have one Power Play opportunity in the third period, but both goalies would stand tall and make a few nice saves keeping the score at 6-0. Neither team would find the back of the net in the final period, and Hibbing would skate their way to a 6-0 road victory over the Pirates. The Bluejackets doubled the Pirates in shots on the night with a 38-19 advantage.

Jaren Bailey suffered the loss in net for the Pirates making 32 saves and surrendering 6 goals. Evan Radovich got the start for the Bluejackets and made 19 saves in a shutout effort earning the win.

Crookston drops to 2-14-1 on the season and will hit the ice again tomorrow when they host Park Rapids inside the Crookston Sports Center. The Pirates defeated Park Rapids back on Jan. 6 for one of their two wins on the year. “This game is a do-or-die mentality for us,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “We have to learn from this loss and move onto this game tomorrow. Hopefully, we can finish this week feeling better about our play than we did at the end of the first period tonight.” The puck will drop at 2:00 p.m. and the game can be heard on KROX starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 1:30 p.m. The game can also be watched on the KROX Livestream. Hibbing moves to 9-9 on the season with the win.

1st 2nd 3rd Total
Hibbing 3 3 0 6
Crookston 0 0 0 0


1st Period
8:31 – HIB (PP) – Andrew Lehman (Michael Andrican)
10:26 – HIB (SH) – Kasey Kemp (Michael Andrican)
12:29 – HIB (PP) – Andrew Lehman (Tristan Babich, Kasey Kemp)

2nd Period
4:31 – HIB – Drew Janezich (Michael Andrican)
5:40 – HIB – Reed Kearney (Beau Frider)
16:41 – HIB – Tristen Babich (Jack Gabardi, Peyton Taylor)

3rd Period
No Scoring

Saves 1st 2nd 3rd Final
Jaren Bailey – Crookston 13 9 10 32
Evan Radovich – Hibbing 5 12 2 19

 

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