FIRST PERIOD –
After a few shifts, Crookston got on the board with Brandon Colborn scoring on just the second shot of the game, less than four minutes. Assisting Colborn on the goal were Nathan Kelly and Zachary Tahran. Crookston continued to play well and create opportunities, but the Eagles would cash in on a crucial mistake. Gavin Girdler would outrace a Pirate to a bouncing puck at center ice and raced in on a breakaway for an unassisted goal to tie the game at 1-1 with 9:55 remaining in the period. The tie would soon be broken after that, with Crookston getting another goal. It was the same line doing the damage as Nathan Kelly would take a rebound on a shot attempt and find the back of the net to put Crookston back in front 2-1. Late in the period, Blake Breiland would go off for a two-minute penalty for slashing, giving Crookston the first Power Play of the game. It was short-lived, as the Pirate’s Jackson Demarais would get called for tripping with just 1.7 seconds remaining. The faceoff would amount to nothing, and the two teams skated to the locker room with the Pirates in front 2-1 and outshooting Red Lake Falls 12-4. The start of the second period would feature 4v4 hockey for one minute before the Eagles would have one minute with the man advantage.
SECOND PERIOD –
The second period was as wild as could be, with a total of eight goals being scored. After the Power Play for the Eagles was finished, They would tie the game at 2-2 on an even-strength goal from Brayden Ste. Marie. Crookston would then draw two penalties back-to-back and get a 5v3 advantage. With the time running down on the first penalty, Carter Trudeau would wrap the puck around the net and beat Ashtin Fredrickson to take the lead back to 3-2. At the 9:08 mark of the period, Gavin Girdler would score again for the Eagles to tie the game back up at 3-3. The real fun would then begin as there would be five goals scored in the final 4:05 of the period.
Jack Doda would get back-to-back goals in just 29 seconds. Both were excellent plays in front of the net. With just under three minutes to play in the period, Gavin Girdler would complete the hat trick beating Jaren Bailey five-hole to cut the deficit to 5-4. thirty seconds after that, the action continued, and Jack Doda stole a pass, raced to the net, and drew a penalty that would result in a penalty shot. Doda would capitalize on the penalty shot scoring his third straight goal to register his second hat trick of the season. It was an excellent shot as Doda went stick side and beat Fredrickson up high. The scoring still wasn’t finished, and Gavin Girdler once again answered with yet another goal with 29 seconds left until the intermission. That would wrap up a chaotic period of play, with Crookston taking a 6-5 lead into the final frame. Although the score was close, the Pirates were controlling the game outshooting the Eagles 29-10 through two periods of play.
THIRD PERIOD –
The Pirates would be called for a penalty a few minutes into the third period. Red Lake Falls would make Crookston pay as Jackson Hoefer redirected a puck into the net to tie the game at 6-6 with 12:40 remaining. A few minutes passed with neither team doing much before Carter Trudeau took a high stick to the face and drew a penalty. The Eagles did an excellent job of initially killing the Power Play, but ironically it was Carter Trudeau giving the Pirates the lead back right before the Power Play expired. Teagan Lubinski provided the assist, and with the goal, Crookston led 7-6 with under six minutes remaining. Less than 40 seconds later, Gavin Girdler scored his fifth goal of the night to tie the game at 7-7. The final five minutes of the third period were played frantically, with each team having chances to take the lead and win the game. The best opportunity came as the final seconds ran off the clock as Evan Girdler fired a slap shot that got by Jaren Bailey but hit the left post, just narrowly missing and giving the Eagles the win. So the two teams would head to an eight-minute sudden death Overtime.
OVERTIME PERIOD –
Both teams had excellent chances in the first few minutes of overtime, with Jack Doda getting an opportunity in front of the net that Ashtin Fredrickson would save and Red Lake Falls’ Evan Girdler hitting another post. Less than five minutes into overtime, the Eagles had the puck in front of the net and Evan Girdler slapped the puck into the net after a scrum in front, giving the Eagles a thrilling 8-7 victory in overtime. Blake Breiland was credited with an assist on the goal.
Crookston falls to 0-2 and will host East Grand Forks on Tuesday. Red Lake Falls improves to 2-0 on the season with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH JOSH HARDY’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
FOR EAGLES COACH TREVOR PAGE’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
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Scoring
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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OT
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Final
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| CROOKSTON | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| RLF | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
1st Period
3:55 – Crox – Brandon Colborn (Nathan Kelly, Zachary Tahran)
7:05 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Unassisted)
10:07 – Crox – Nathan Kelly (Zachary Tahran)
2nd Period
2:16 – RLF – Brayden Ste. Marie (Blake Audette)
4:44 – Crox – Carter Trudeau (Unassisted) (PP)
9:06 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Blake Breiland, Jace Seegar) (PP)
12:55 – Crox – Jack Doda (4) (Ryan Street, CarterTrudeau)
13:24 – Crox – Jack Doda (5) (Ryan Street, Blake Melsa)
14:03 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Unassisted)
14:33 – Crox – Jack Doda (6) (Unassisted) (Penalty Shot)
16:31 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Evan Girdler, Blake Breiland)
3rd Period
4:20 – RLF – Jackson Hoefer (Brock Seeger, Evan Girdler) (PP)
11:13 – Crox – Carter Trudeau (2) (Teagen Lubinski, Nathan Kelly) (PP)
11:49 – RLF Gavin Girdler (Evan Girdler)
Overtime Period
4:46 – RLF – Evan Girdler (Blake Breiland)
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Saves
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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OT
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Final
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| Jaren Bailey – Crox | 3 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 16 |
| Ashtin Fredrickson – RLF | 10 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 35 |
