#10 St. Paul Johnson used back to back power-play goals 19 seconds apart in the second period to build a 3-0 lead and went on to defeat the Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team by a score of 4-1 Friday at Gustafson-Phalen Arena in St. Paul. With the win, the Governors reclaim the Lions Cup, which the Pirates had won a year ago with a 3-2 SO win. The Pirates lead the yearly series 18-15.
The Pirates and Governors played an even first period with both teams defenses keeping play to the perimeter. The Pirates had two golden opportunities to score but were unable to find the back of the net. The first senior Ben Andringa skated through a defenseman to get off a point-blank shot as he was going to the ice but the Governor goaltender had stayed with the play and was able to make the save. The second came when a Pirates defensemen tried to flip the puck over a Governor in the offensive zone, but the puck hit him and as it was deflecting toward the ice Kaleb Thingelstad swatted it on net catching the goaltender by surprise but unfortunately right in the chest. Pirate Coach Josh Hardy said there are opportunities available but the Pirates need to take advantage of them, “It’s a combination of things. We’re not shooting the puck enough, over handling it and then when we do have opportunities we’re not going to the net. It was a lot of basics we were struggling with tonight. The boys were disappointed and they should be. We let a game we felt was winnable slip away by making some mental mistakes.” The Governors Hunter Fishback was called for a tripping penalty as the period expired to give the Pirates their first power-play heading into the second period it a 0-0 game. The Governors outshot the Pirates 7-5 in the first.
The Pirates were unable to capitalize on a power-play to open the second period and it set up St. Paul Johnson for a strong period. Midway through the period, the Governors would strike when Damien Cunningham sent a pass up ice for Blayde Progreba who stepped around a Pirates defenseman at the blue line raced in and lifted a shot under the crossbar to give the Governors a 1-0 lead with 9:38 left in the second. “You give a goal scorer time and space he’s going to score,” said Hardy. “He came down and made a beautiful shot after he walked our defenseman. But we shouldn’t have been in that position. To begin with, we had an opportunity to get the puck deep in their zone and tried to make one more play. Good teams make you pay on that.” The Governors would double their lead on a power-play opportunity when Owen Jablonic fired a shot towards the net that Drake Teal redirected five-hole past Dragseth for a 2-0 lead with 3:32 to in the period. The Pirates would take another penalty off the ensuing faceoff when Ty Hamre was called for tripping. Following an offensive zone faceoff, Joseph Moberg carried the puck down the goal line and cut in front of the net without being picked up by the defense before shoveling the puck into the net for a 3-0 with 3:13 left in the second period. The Pirates would get a late power-play and despite a flurry in front of the Governor goaltender, they were unable to score before the period ended with them trailing 3-0. “One of our keys before the game was – stay out of the box,” said Hardy. “We can’t get into a game like that where we’re up and down, playing lots of special teams. That’s not the type of team we are or game we want to play. The first power-play goal I thought we killed great, we had opportunities to score on the rush. They came back down, we killed it perfectly and the guy a beautiful tip out front so we’ll eat that one. The second one was the backbreaker we get beat out of the corner and let the guy walk out front. Those are things we can’t let happen.” St. Paul Johnson outshot the Pirates 15-10 in the second.
St. Paul Johnson would extend their lead to 4-0 with 13:59 to play when Ty Neumann found Moberg quite literally sitting on the ice in front of the net and he shoveled the puck into the net. “He scored from his butt I think,” said Hardy. “We don’t pick up sticks going to the net. Disappointing things that we harp on every day that we struggled to do tonight. We struggle to score. We give up four goals we’re going to hurting.” The Pirates would play a strong third period, firing 16 shots on goal but continued to struggle to find the back of the net. Midway through the period, the Pirates would get their lone goal on the power-play when Leyton Salentine fed a cross-ice pass to Jack Doda on the right-wing. Doda fired across his body to the far post beating the goaltender stick side for his team-leading fourth goal of the year making it 4-1 with 7:01 to play. “As a freshman, he’s the guy that’s finding the back of the net,” said Hardy. “Other guys can score, he’s just got the hot hand right now and is in position to score those goals on the power-play.” The Pirates had an opportunity to pull closer late in the period with two Governors in the penalty box and an empty net for the last 2:30 but were unable to get another goal. “To be honest, I probably should’ve pulled him earlier,” said Hardy. “We want to practice that situation. At this point, it doesn’t matter – win, lose or draw. We’re trying to get ourselves ready in different situations. We had a couple of opportunities to score with the extra attacker. It’s something we haven’t gotten an opportunity to work on yet so a game like this is a perfect time to try.”
St. Paul Johnson improves to 3-0. The Pirates fall to 0-5 and will play Tartan Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Oakdale in a game that can be heard on KROX.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| St. Paul Johnson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
9:38 – SPJ – Blayde Pogreba (Damien Cunningham, AJ McMahon)
3:32 – SPJ – Drake Teal (Owen Jablonic, Hunter Fishbach) PP
3:13 – SPJ – Joseph Moberg (AJ McMahon) PP
3rd Period
13:59 – SPJ – Joseph Moberg (Ty Neumann)
7:01 – Crookston – Jack Doda (Leyton Salentine, Alex Longoria) PP
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Noah Dragseth – Crookston | 7 | 12 | 12 | 31 |
| Tobin Florhaug – SPJ | 5 | 10 | 15 | 30 |
