The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team successfully killed five power plays, scored a power play goal and a shorthanded goal en route to a 3-1 victory over the Flyers of Bagley/Fosston at the Bagley Hockey Arena.
FIRST PERIOD –
The first time these two teams played, it was a duel of the goaltenders between Kyle Johnson and Parker Kelly. In the first period, the trends began to lead that direction once again. After the Flyers got the first 3 shots on goal, Crookston responded with getting 14 of the final 18 shots on goal to end the period. However, both Johnson and Kelly were up to the task and recorded clean sheets. Both teams had great opportunities to score; Bagley/Fosston had a puck sitting stationary, virtually on the goal line, behind Kelly for two seconds but could not get a stick on it and the Pirates were able to clear, and Crookston had a shot in the final two minutes by Greyson Ecker whistle off the crossbar and wide. Crookston was 0-for-1 on the power play as well, but a tripping penalty on B/F’s Gage Gunderson at 15:18 gave Crookston a second power play. They could not score before the period concluded, so they started the second period with 18 seconds of a man advantage.
SECOND PERIOD –
The Flyers were able to kill off the final 18 seconds of the Pirate power play, and once again got the first shot on goal of the period. This one was a missile from the blue line off the stick of Gage Gunderson that beat Kelly stick side, giving B/F an early 1-0 lead. However, the Pirates got the next 3 shots on goal, and the third one ended up being a beautiful tip by Gavin Aakhus off a one-timer by Tate Hamre, tying the game at 1. For the middle stages of the period, the goalie duel commenced once again between Kelly and Johnson, and it lasted until the Pirates got their third power play of the game on the third Flyers tripping penalty. This time they cashed in, as a snipe from the blue line by Teagan Lubinski gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Seconds later, the Flyers got a power play of their own, but after a scramble in front of Kelly, Garrett Fischer took the puck and scored on a breakaway shorthanded to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead, a lead that would stand for the remainder of the period.
THIRD PERIOD –
As the third period started, Crookston came out with more energy and began peppering Kyle Johnson, forcing him to make 11 saves in the first 4 minutes of the period. This was largely due to yet another Pirate power play, this one killed by the Flyers. Tensions began to rise, coincidental minors were awarded, and the physicality increased throughout the period. At 5:29, Tate Hamre was sent to the box for interference, but the Pirates were successfully able to kill the penalty, and though that had the potential to deflate hope for the Flyers, another power play was handed to them mere seconds later. That one was also killed, and the period remained scoreless. As the period winded down, the Flyers were granted with another power play with 2:13 remaining. The Flyers chose to pull the goalie to play 6-on-4 hockey, but Kelly made 5 of his 9 saves in the period in that stretch and kept the Flyers out, giving Crookston a 3-1 win.
Crookston improves to 9-6-1 on the year, 5-3-1 in the section. Bagley/Fosston drops to 9-7, 4-3 in the section.
To hear postgame comments from Pirate head coach Josh Hardy, click below.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Crookston | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Bagley/Fosston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
1st Period
No scoring.
2nd Period
1:29 – B/F – Gage Gunderson (Camron Benson, Cole Johnson assist)
3:56 – CROX – Gavin Aakhus (Tate Hamre assist)
10:56 – CROX (PP) Teagan Lubinski (Riley Benson, Michael Benson assist)
12:04 – CROX (SH) – Garrett Fischer (unassisted)
3rd Period
No scoring.
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Parker Kelly – Crox | 7 | 5 | 9 | 21 |
| Kyle Johnson- BF | 14 | 11 | 16 | 41 |
