The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team weren’t quite able to get to full speed throughout the course of the game, and the offense of the Fergus Falls Otters was just enough to power the Otters to a 3-1 victory over the Pirates at the Fergus Falls Community Arena.
FIRST PERIOD
As the game began, it became clear quickly that the Otters were a half step ahead of the Pirates. They were controlling faceoffs, which have been a weakness of the Pirates so far this year, and peppering Parker Kelly in net. Kelly did a lot throughout the game, fighting to keep the puck out of the net, but a slick pass from behind the net by Jack Welde set up a Nolan Wedll goal to put the Otters up 1-0. Crookston was then able to kill a penalty to keep the score at 1-0, but offensive opportunities were difficult to come by, and even when they did, Holden Stenstrom in net was there to put a stop to them. Ultimately, the game stayed at 1-0 at the end of the period.
SECOND PERIOD
The question of whether or not the same trends from the first period would continue into the second were answered quickly, as just 57 seconds into the period, Aiden Schake got by the entire Crookston defense and put one by Kelly to put the Otters up 2-0. The pace of the game began to slow down after that, with lots of whistles and overall sloppy play, but the Pirates were finally able to break through, this time on the power play, as Garrett Fischer sent one from the blue line by Stenstrom to cut the lead to 2-1. Though the Pirate power play was able to step up, scoring a power play goal in back-to-back games for the first time all year, Fergus Falls was better 5-on-5. In the latter stages of the period, however, both Fischer and Tate Hamre had breakaway opportunities, and both were stopped by Stenstrom. Therefore, the game stayed at 2-1 in the Otters’ favor at the end of the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
The dominating factor of the third period was the play of the goaltenders. Both Parker Kelly and Holden Stenstrom played remarkably in the third period; Kelly stopping half a dozen breakaways and odd men rush opportunities, and Stemstrom stuffing Ryan Street twice, shots that Street took with no one within 10 feet of him. The defense on both sides played better too, as overall shot attempts went down compared to the first two periods. The faceoffs began to be a factor again, however. Fergus Falls controlled the vast majority of them, and were able to keep the puck in the Crookston zone for a long stretch of time. The game stayed 2-1 into the final minute, which is when Crookston was finally able to pull the goalie in favor of the extra skater. Alas, it wasn’t enough, as Adam Kennedy scored on the empty net with 25 seconds remaining to put the game on ice, sealing a 3-1 for Fergus Falls.
Crookston falls to 5-2-1 on the season, going 2-1-1 in the last six days. Fergus Falls improves to 4-3 on the season
JV- Crokstoon won 3-1
To listen to the postgame comments from Pirate head coach Josh Hardy, click below.
Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Crookston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Fergus Falls | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
1st Period
6:06 – FF – Nolan Wedll (Jack Welde, Benett Thielke assist)
2nd Period
0:57 – FF – Aiden Schake (Jack Welde, Adam Kennedy assist)
8:23 – CROX (PP) – Garrett Fischer (Jay Reese assist)
3rd Period
16:35 – FF (EN) – Adam Kennedy (unassisted)
Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
Parker Kelly- Crox | 13 | 9 | 11 | 33 |
Holden Stenstrom- FF | 6 | 12 | 7 | 25 |