The Fergus Falls Otters jumped out to an early 2-0 and that proved to be the difference in a 4-2 victory over the Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team in a game played in Fergus Falls.
Fergus Falls jumped out to an early lead when Noah Tarczon won an offensive zone faceoff directly to the stick of Michael DeBrito who one-timed the puck into the back of the net for the 1-0 with 14:58 to go in the first period. “Tough start,” said Pirates coach Josh Hardy. “We got behind the eightball and couldn’t dig our way out. Our check guy that has to tie that guy up has an opportunity to play the puck, misses, and they hammer it home.” Fergus Falls would extend the lead on the powerplay when Kaden Peterson faked a slapshot and sent a cross-ice pass to Ian Richards in the left circle who one-timed it for a 2-0 with 8:38 to go. “We had all sorts of pressure, were bottling them up, did a nice job,” said Hardy. “When they got in, we rotated and just didn’t quite get a piece of that shot. He made a great shot.” The Pirates would answer just 32 seconds later when Leyton Salentine found Jack Doda in the right circle. Doda whiffed on his one-time but the puck bounced out into the slot where Ben Andringa delivered it to the back of the net for his fifth of the year cutting the Otters lead to 2-1 with 8:06 to go in the first. “It starts with moving the puck all the way around the key there,” said Hardy. “Jack kind of whiffed on it but it pops to Ben and he’s able to hammer it home. That was big.” The Pirates would get two abbreviated powerplay opportunities late in the period but were unable to tie the game. The Otters outshot the Pirates 11-7 in the first.
The Pirates came out strong to open the second period before a barrage of penalties put them on the defensive. Leyton Salentine was called for tripping with 8:27 to go in the period, followed by a 5-minute major to Noah Kiel for checking for behind with 8:03 left in the period. Before play would resume the Pirate bench also received a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. The result was the Pirates would need to kill off 3:36 of a five-on-three powerplay for Fergus Falls and 5:24 of total powerplay time for the Otters, which they did. “What a kill, that was huge,” said Hardy. “Leyton gets a penalty, Kiel gets a penalty. They are trying to call a five and a 10, which is not a penalty in high school anymore. Coach (Mike) Donaghue was arguing for a 10 and a game, which means he misses the next one too. I got T’d up there, but we were able to keep Kiel so I’ll take the two minutes to kill that off. We really killed the 5-on-3 with some scrambles and the boys were battling. Really proud of that one there.” The Pirates used the momentum of killing off the penalties to create offense scoring just 39 seconds after returning to full strength. Ben Andringa won a faceoff to Jack Doda who one-timed a goal five-hole past the goaltender to tie the game at 2-2 with 2:24 to go in the second. “We run a little faceoff play and Jack buries the puck,” said Hardy. “That was nice. Now we’re tied 2-2 going to the third. We feel good about where we’re at like we’re in a position to win a hockey game.” The goal was nearly identical to the first goal of the game scored by Fergus Falls, happening in the same spot on the ice. The Otters, fueled largely by their time on the powerplay outshot the Pirates 14-10 in the period.
Fergus Falls took it to the Pirates physically in the third period controlling play from the drop of the puck. The Otters would take the lead with 10:11 to go when DeBrito forced a turnover in the neutral zone to create on two-on-one. DeBrito slid a pass Isaac Young who hesitated to allow Pirate goaltender Noah Dragseth to slide to his side of the ice before slipping a backdoor backhander along the ice to the far post that Dragseth had vacated for a 3-2 lead. “Physically I thought they beat us up there in the third,” said Hardy. “It wasn’t great. We were onto of the play a lot instead of underneath it where we need to be, meaning that our forwards were not where they were supposed to be positionally and were just reaching for pucks. They beat us up physically and once they get that one to go up 3-2 you have to dig out of a hole.” The Otters would extend the lead on the powerplay when DeBrito fired a shot high off Dragseth, and Peterson crashed the net lifting the rebound into the net for a 4-2 lead with 6:35 to play. “I don’t mind the penalty for playing aggressive and physical, it’s just the timing of it,” said Hardy. “We can’t be in the box when trying to win a hockey game in the third. We ran into each other on the forecheck so they came back 4-on-2. Drags(eth) makes the initial stop and we couldn’t get back to the rebound. I have a sad group of boys in there. I’m incredibly proud of how positive they have stayed, how hard they work. It’s probably more frustrating for them then it is for me, because I can it (coming). They keep working hard they are going to fine. We’re thinking of Kaleb Thingelstad right now, he’s heading to the hospital with what looks like a broken wrist late in the game. We’ll be missing him and our thoughts are with him.” The Pirates would pull Dragseth for the extra attacker for the final 1:41 but despite a couple of quality scoring opportunities, the Pirates were unable to get a goal. The Otters outshot the Pirates 15-5 in the third.
Crookston falls to 0-12 on the year and will return to the ice against Bemidji on Tuesday, January 7 at the Crookston Sports Center at 7:30 p.m. Fergus Falls improves to 5-9-1.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| CROOKSTON | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Fergus Falls | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
1st Period
14:58 – FF – Michael DeBrit (Noah Tarczon)
8:38 – FF – Ian Richards (Kaden Peterson, Isaac Young) PP
8:06 – Crox – Ben Andringa (5) (Jack Doda, Leyton Salentine)
2nd Period
2:24 – Crox – Jack Doda (8) (Ben Andringa)
3rd Period
10:11 – FF – Isaac Young (Michael DeBrito)
6:35 – FF – Kaden Peterson (Michael DeBrito)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Noah Dragseth – Crox | 9 | 14 | 13 | 36 |
| Ben Swanson – FF | 6 | 9 | 5 | 20 |
