The Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team had plenty of scoring opportunities while getting 37 shots on goal, but continued their offensive struggles as they fell 5-2 to the Detroit Lakes Lakers in a Section 8A game played in Detroit Lakes.
The Detroit Lakes Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds into the game when Jordan Fields through a pass out of the right corner to the front of the net where CJ Kilmer redirected the puck five-hole with 16:09 to play. Both teams would kill off minor penalties through the middle of the period before a turnover gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead. Leyton Salentine tried to carry the puck out of his own end put was poke checked crossing the blue line by Jackson Fields creating a 2-on-1. Fields fed a pass to Beau Boehne in the slot who ripped the puck just inside the left post with 7:53 to go in the first. Detroit Lakes would extend the lead when Reed Benson knocked down a clearing attempt at the blue line and sent the puck deep. Spencer Bergman picked the puck up and threw it out front of the goal where Boehne outworked the defense to bury his second of the game to make it 3-0 with 2:12 to go in the first period. Both teams had eight shots on goal in the period.
The Pirates came out to start the second with a burst and they’d use that to their advantage controlling play throughout the game’s middle frame. The Pirates would get their first goal of the game when the Lakers Braeden Wimmer whiffed on a shot at the blue line and Jack Doda stepped up to take the puck on a breakaway. Doda skated straight in on Lake goaltender Jack Hines snapping a wrist shot five-hole to cut the Laker lead to 3-1 with 14:05 to go in the second. Off the ensuing faceoff, the Pirates were controlling in the offensive zone when Ben Andringa picked up the puck on right wall, carried it along the blue line and down the left wall while sidestepping two defenders in the left circle before pulling the trigger on a wrist shot that went under the stick arm of Hines to cut the lead to 3-2 with 13:28 to go in the second. The Pirates continued to exert control throughout the rest of the period but couldn’t get the equalizer. The Pirates outshot the Lakers 16-5 in the period.
The third period started with the Pirates going shorthanded less than a minute into the frame when Gavin Anderson was called for holding. The Pirates would kill off most of the Detroit Lakes powerplay, but just 21 seconds left in the advantage Hunter Burnside slid a pass along the top of the crease to Jackson Fields who buried it to the Lakers a 4-2 with 14:37 to play. The Pirates pressed their attack throughout the third period having numerous opportunities to score while five-on-five. The Pirates also had a 5-on-3 powerplay for 1:15 but were unable to get many quality chances with the advantage. Jackson Fields would put the game away with 33 seconds to play when Burnside found him the inside edge of the left faceoff circle and Fields chipped the puck into the net to make it 5-2.
The Pirates went 0-6 on the powerplay and fall to 0-11-0 on the year. Detroit Lakes improves to 5-7-2 on the season snapping a six-game winless streak. The Pirates will be back in action Saturday when they face Fergus Falls at 1:00 p.m. The RiverView Health pregame show can be heard on KROX following the Noontime News at 12:30 p.m.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Detroit Lakes | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
1st Period
16:09 – Detroit Lakes – CJ Killmer (Jordan Fields, Braeden Wimmer)
7:53 – Detroit Lakes – Beau Boehne (Jackson Fields)
2:12 – Detroit Lakes – Beau Boehne (Spencer Bergman, Reed Benson)
2nd Period
14:05 – Crox – Jack Doda (Kaleb Thingelstad)
13:38 – Crox – Ben Andringa (Quinn Westlake, Kaleb Thingelstad)
3rd Period
14:37 – Detroit Lakes – Jackson Fields (Hunter Burnside, Alex Bren) PP
:33 – Detroit Lakes – Jackson Fields (Hunter Burnside, Jacob McAllister)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Noah Dragseth – Crookston | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| Jack Hines – Detroit Lakes | 8 | 14 | 13 | 35 |
