Quinn Westlake made a nifty backhand fake to a forehand shot for the game-winner in the sixth round of a shootout Friday night to reclaim the Lions Cup, 3-2 (SO), from the St. Paul Johnson Governors. The win is the 18th for the Pirates in the yearly series and they lead the all-time series 18-14.
Officially Friday night’s game goes on the books as a 3-3 tie, the Pirates first since December 13, 2014, when they skated to a tie with Hibbing, 4-4.
The Pirates fell behind 1-0 with 5:30 to go in the first period when Blayde Pogreba (goal, 2 assists) won a faceoff to Pirate goaltender Jack Ricord’s left and wasn’t challenged by the Pirate defense as he took the puck to the top of the crease before flipping it past Ricord. The goal came after the Pirates had killed off back-to-back penalties, outshooting the Governors 3-2 while shorthanded, which included a breakaway for Eric Delorme (goal) that was stopped by the St. Paul netminder. Both Governor shots on the power play came on one sequence when Luke Moberg (goal) was stopped point blank by Ricord, who also stymied Damian Cunningham’s (goal, assist) shot on the rebound. The Pirates would even the score less than two minutes later while on their own powerplay. Delorme ripped a shot off the post and the Pirates maintained the zone at the blue line with Sam Overgaard (assist), who got the puck low along the side of the net to Jack Doda (2 assists). Doda was bodied up by two St. Paul defenders and the puck came free to Ty Hamre (goal) who buried it for his career goal with 4:14 to go. Just over two minutes later Joey Doda (goal) would make it 2-1 Pirates heading into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Pirates had three opportunities to extend the lead on the power play but couldn’t beat St. Paul’s Aaron Lee. The Governors would get the equalizer with 4:24 to go in the second period when D. Cunningham (goal, assist) beat Ricord with assists by Pogreba and Thomas Heesch (assist). In the third, Delorme gave the Pirates a 3-2 advantage with 15:03 to play. Brock Heppner took a two-minute minor for tripping with 13:48 to play and just 15 seconds latter Moberg would even the score on assists by D. Cunningham and Porgreba. St. Paul Johnson had just one shot over the final 13:33, a shorthanded breakaway, while the Pirates outshot the Governors 9-1 down the stretch but could not find a crack in Lee’s game.
In overtime, an early penalty to Hamre for cross-checking put the Pirates behind the eight ball as St. Paul outshot the Pirates 8-2 but couldn’t score officially ending the game.
In the best of three shootout, the Pirates struck in the first round when Ben Andringa beat Lee to put the Pirates up 1-0. Shootout goals by St. Paul’s Moberg and Caleb Cunningham put the Pirates down 2-1, with Heppner the final shooter. Heppner skated down the slot and fired a stick-side wrist shot past Lee to force sudden-death rounds. Both Ricord and Lee would stop the first two shots they faced in sudden-death. D. Cunningham took the puck in the sixth round for St. Paul and skated in on not trying to wait on Ricord to make the first move, but the Crookston netminder stood his ground and easily stopped the shot setting up Westlake.
Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play in the game. St. Paul moves to 1-1-1, Crookston to 0-3-1. The Pirates are back in action Saturday when they host Tartan (3-1-0), who comes off a 3-0 win in Thief River Falls Friday, at 2:00 p.m. The game can be heard on KROX, with the RiverView Pregame Show at 1:30 p.m.
Quinn Westlake with the shootout-winning goal and the team hoists the Lions Cup – Click above to see the video
Pirates clear the front of the net after St. Paul crashes in looking for the rebound
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
| St. Paul Johnson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| CROOKSTON | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Jack Ricord stops Damian Cunningham in the final round of the shootout
1st Period
5:30 – St. Paul Johnson – Blayde Pogreba (unassisted)
4:14 – Crookston – Ty Hamre (Jack Doda, Sam Overgaard) (PP)
1:51 – Crookston – Joey Doda (Ben Andringa, Jacob Anderson)
2nd Period
4:24 – St. Paul Johnson – Damian Cunningham (Blayde Pogreba, Thomas Heesch)
3rd Period
15:03 – Crookston – Eric Delorme (Jack Doda, Brock Heppner)
13:33 – St. Paul Johnson – Luke Moberg (Damian Cunningham, Blayde Pogreba) (PP)
Overtime
No Scoring
SHOOTOUT
| Best of three | ST. PAUL JOHNSON | Goal | CROOKSTON | Goal |
| 1st Round | Blayde Pogreba | Ben Andringa | X | |
| 2nd Round | Luke Moberg | X | Eric Delorme | |
| 3rd Round | Caleb Cunningham | X | Brock Heppner | X |
| ‘Sudden-Death’ | ||||
| 4th Round | Thomas Heesch | Kaleb Thingelstad | ||
| 5th Round | Luke Moberg | Joey Doda | ||
| 6th Round | Damian Cunningham | Quinn Westlake | X |
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Total | SO |
| Aaron Lee –Saint Paul Johnson | 11 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 29 | 3 |
| Jack Ricord – Crookston | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 4 |
Eric Delorme celebrates his third-period goal
