THIEF RIVER FALLS BLANKS CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY’S HOCKEY 8-0

The Thief River Falls Prowlers overpowered the Crookston Pirate Boy’s Hockey team and picked up a Section 8A victory over the Pirates 8-0 on Tuesday night at the Crookston Sports Center.

FIRST PERIOD –
The first few minutes of the game gave each team one or two scoring chances but both starting goaltenders were up for the task and kept the game 0-0. The Prowlers continued to apply pressure and would eventually score the first goal of the night after a Pirates turnover that resulted in a breakaway. Tysen Loeffler would skate in and before Thor Harbott could race back and defend, Loeffler would beat Jaren Bailey to give the Prowlers the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later Kadin Edwards would be called for a trip to put Thief River Falls on a Power Play. Crookston spent a lot of time in recent practices working on their special teams and it paid off on this penalty kill, as the Pirates would keep the deficit at 1-0 while getting back to even strength. Crookston would have a few decent chances in front of the net and in transition throughout the period but could never quite execute. Michael Bochow would have a breakaway get turned aside and the Pirates top line would have a chance or two but they would come up empty every time. Thief River Falls would extend the lead with under 3:00 minutes remaining in the period after a shot got blocked and came right to a Prowlers skater who would beat Bailey five hole. That would make it 2-0 and the score would remain that way into the first intermission. Thief River Falls outshot the Pirates 14-4 in the first frame on their way to the 2-0 lead.

SECOND PERIOD –
The Prowlers would erupt in the second period and score four goals to take a commanding 6-0 lead. The first one came with 12:24 remaining in the frame, and it was Tysen Loeffler’s second of the night. He skated in past the entire Pirates defense and backhanded one by Bailey. Thirteen seconds later after the faceoff win, Loeffler would complete the hat trick and give the Prowlers the 4-0 lead, and they never looked back after that. Thief River Falls was executing at a high level and was in sync for the entire period. Scoring the other goals for the Prowlers later in the period were Braydin Lund, and Jaxon Hams. The Pirates would get one excellent scoring chance as Michael Bochow would knock a puck away from a Prowler player and skate the other way on a breakaway. He would be turned away however by the Thief River Falls goaltender Conner Roff, keeping the shutout intact. Right at the end of the period, the two teams would get into a scrum, and after the officials worked it out, the Pirates would get their first Power Play of the night which would carry over into the final frame.  

THIRD PERIOD –
The third period was played with running time as the Prowlers led by 6+ goals. The Pirates Power Play would be unsuccessful and for the most part, the rest of the period flew by without many whistles. Thief River Falls would add two more goals in the period from Braydin Lund, and Gabe Winter to take an 8-0 lead. There was some pushing and shoving in the final minutes of the game that gave Crookston one last Power Play, but it would once again be unsuccessful, and the Prowlers would end up winning the game by a score of 8-0. Jaren Bailey suffered the loss for Crookston making 24 saves and surrendering 8 goals. Parker Kelly also played in the net for the Pirates in the third period but didn’t face any shots. Earning the win for Thief River Falls was Conner Roff saving 13 shots in the shutout performance.  

Crookston drops to 1-9 on the season and will take the ice again Thursday when they host Park Rapids. Thief River Falls improves to 4-6-1 with the win.

FOR PIRATES COACH JOSH HARDY’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW

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1st Period
6:21 – TRF – Tysen Loeffler (Unassisted)
14:26 – TRF – Max Arlt (Andrew Rogalla)

2nd Period
4:36 – TRF – Tyson Loeffler (Jace Erickson)
4:49 – TRF – Tyson Loeffler (Max Arlt)
13:40 – TRF – Braydin Lund (Unassisted)
14:00 – TRF – Jaxon Hams (Rylan Leake, Tucker Howe)

3rd Period
9:28 – TRF – Braydin Lund (Andrew Rogalla)
11:00 – TRF – Gabe Winter (Tysen Loeffler)