Alex Bren scored on a penalty shot and the Detroit Lakes Lakers never trailed in a 2-1 win over the Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team on Thursday night in the Section 8A Tournament Quarterfinals at the Crookston Sports Center.
The Detroit Lakes Lakers controlled the play throughout the first period outshooting the Pirates 8-5. The Lakers would’ve easily had more shots on goal if they weren’t as effective as they were redirecting shots, unfortunately, most of their redirections were not on goal. “We didn’t play very well in the first or second period,” said Pirate coach Josh Hardy. “We didn’t play very well defensively, and I thought we had a bit of that thousand-mile stare where the moment looked too big for us.”
The Pirates continued to struggle early in the second period when the Lakers pushed a puck out of the goal right corner onto the left pad of Pirate goaltender Jack Ricord. Defenseman Jacob Anderson fell over Ricord and the puck was lost underneath them before the referee called Anderson for covering the puck resulting in a penalty shot for Detroit Lakes. Alex Bren skated in along the left side cut to the top of the crease, hesitated drawing Ricord forward and then continued to the right post before lifting the puck top shelf for a 1-0 lead with 11:04 to play in the second. The Pirates would get their own opportunity shot on a penalty shot 21 seconds later. Eric Delorme came in on a breakaway and was pulled down by Bren as he tried to get a shot on goal. On his penalty shot Delorme skated straight down the center of the ice until he reached the hash marks before his wrist shot whistled harmlessly wide to the left of the goalkeeping Detroit Lakes in front 1-0. “We don’t see a lot of penalty shots and their guy came in and made a really nice move and was able to get it by Jack,” said Hardy. “Eric then comes up with his own penalty shot a few seconds later and just wasn’t able to get it on the net.” A couple minutes later the Lakers would extend their lead on an odd-man rush. Trey Seebold was able to fight off a check enough at center ice to get a pass to Nick Lund to create a 2-on-1 with Will Green. Lund sent a cross-ice pass to Green who ripped a wrist shot from the left circle that snuck through between the arm and body of Ricord for a 2-0 lead 7:09 to play that they carried into the second intermission.
The opening minutes of the third period belonged to Lakers as well before Delorme and Brock Heppner were able to create some offense. Delorme picked off a pass near the red line before bringing the puck in the zone along the right side. Delorme and Heppner crossed in the high slot as Delorme took the puck just inside the left circle before firing a pass to Heppner whose quick shot was stopped by the Lakers goaltender. Heppner carried the rebound behind the goal before passing to Delorme against the left wall. Delorme then made a saucer pass towards the top of the crease that Heppner let travel past him before swinging his stick to bat the puck into the back of the net cutting the Detroit Lakes lead to 2-1 with 9:16 to play. “It was a little bit of too little, to late,” said Hardy. “We were better offensively so I feel if we were to maybe have three or four more minutes, we could’ve tied it up.” The Pirates had some chances over the final nine minutes outshooting Detroit Lakes 8-1 to finish the game. With just under two minutes left the Pirates pulled Ricord but had to quickly return him to the pipes when Jacob Anderson took a roughing penalty. The Pirates again pulled Ricord in the closing minute with the puck on the far side of the ice to even the skaters per side but were unable to generate offense. “We just weren’t good enough tonight,” said Hardy. “We got flat footed a few times that led to odd-man rushes and opportunities for them. I thought Jack Ricord played a great game and was able to save just a couple of great opportunities out front.”
The Pirates finish the season 8-17-1 and will graduate 11 of their 26 players on the varsity and junior varsity rosters. Detroit Lakes improves to 17-6-2 on the year and advances to the Section 8A Tournament semifinals where they will meet the top seed East Grand Forks Green Wave on Saturday.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Detroit Lakes | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
11:04 – Detroit Lakes – Alex Bren (penalty shot)
7:09 – Detroit Lakes – Will Green (Nick Lund, Trey Seebold)
3rd Period
9:16 – Crookston – Brock Heppner (13) (Eric Delorme)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Jack Hines -Detroit Lakes | 5 | 5 | 9 | 19 |
| Jack Ricord -Crookston | 8 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
