DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds have been to overtime three times in their first seven games of the season.
They went neck-and-neck with one of the top teams in the state Friday night.
Yet they have nothing to show for it in the win column.
They have, however, gained three points in the standings through overtime losses to Minot United, Fargo Davies and, on Saturday, Dickinson.
“The end goal is we want to go to state,” Devils Lake head coach Rob McIvor said. “There’s certain teams that I think we should beat, and there’s certain teams that I think we have a chance of winning. And we’ve gotten two points from those teams, Minot and Davies. Getting a point here [Saturday], I thought we should have probably had three points. But it is what it is. We just have to keep working hard and getting to spots where we can shoot the puck successfully.”
Devils Lake led 1-0 after one period of Saturday’s contest at Burdick Arena. The Firebirds never scored again. They lost 2-1 in overtime to Dickinson (2-5).
It extended Devils Lake’s losing streak to 30 games, dating back to two seasons ago. The last time Devils Lake won was in the state tournament on Feb. 23, 2024.
But the Firebirds have already been significantly more competitive than last year.
On Friday, they lost 3-2 to Legacy/Bismarck — a team ranked second in the preseason coaches poll. Legacy is tied for third place in the state standings.
Devils Lake and Legacy were tied in the middle of the third period.
“Like we said in our pregame [on Saturday], anytime you can play that well against one of the top five teams — yes, we lost, but it’s a close game,” McIvor said. “And it’s just a stepping stone. It’s what I want to see moving forward.”
Legacy had a 47-13 advantage in shots on goal in that game.
Against the third-to-last place Mavericks on Saturday, the margin was a closer 42-35 in favor of Dickinson.
“Yesterday, we didn’t get to 20 shots. Today, we got to 30. So that’s a positive,” McIvor said.
Dickinson had an early 15-3 advantage in that department. But the Firebirds capitalized on power plays in the first period to take an early lead.
Dickinson committed interference penalties within one minute and 24 seconds of each other. With a 5-on-3 in the Firebirds’ favor, sophomore Charly Black got one in the net. Senior Julia McIvor assisted her.
It was Black’s second goal and fourth point of the season. She’s tied with McIvor for the team lead in points.
“She’s come a ways from when she was a seventh-grader,” Coach McIvor said of Black. “Now we just have to kind of work on how she enters the zone. … We’re getting muddled up between her and the wingers, and they’re kind of running into each other.”
Devils Lake took 11 shots on goal during the two power plays.
The Firebirds were on the doorstep of their first win in two seasons.
Dickinson scored two minutes and 21 seconds into the second period. Sophomore goalie Delaney Parker had been perfect thus far, but a long-range shot by Hannah Menge got by her.
The 1-1 tie remained for the rest of regulation.
Devils Lake survived three Dickinson power plays in the second period.
Freshman Ellie Suda nearly snuck one in towards the end of the period, back at full strength, but Devils Lake couldn’t quite break through.
“Finishing — that has to become a primary focus,” McIvor said. “We’ve had three breakways that we didn’t score on — which, if you score on two of those, out of three, you’re winning 3-1, and it’s a much more comfortable game after that.”
Dickinson came out slow in the third period. The Mavericks went to the box for hooking, and they didn’t start taking shots on goal until the middle of the period.
Parker caught a long-range shot on the fly. Another hard shot sailed above the goal.
With 3:18 left in regulation, J. McIvor was called for a tripping penalty. After deliberating during a timeout, the Firebirds got through the power play with only two Dickinson shots on goal.
It brought the game to overtime — territory Devils Lake had been to on Dec. 5 and 12.
The Firebirds almost made it through the eight-minute overtime period. Both teams had their chances, and neither went to the penalty box.
Parker caught a shot with 1:16 on the clock.
Approximately 19.5 seconds later — with 56.5 seconds left in overtime — Dickinson senior Kyndall Peterson poked one in the net. The Mavericks won, 2-1.
“Functionally, in our zone, we have to work on some stuff,” McIvor said. “There’s people open that really shouldn’t be. We’re allowing people to cycle out of the corners, and that is an issue as well.”
While Devils Lake made progress competitively, its hopes of a drought-ending victory were put on hold.
In the net, Parker continued her strong season. She made 40 saves out of Dickinson’s 42 shots, for a percentage of 95.2. Her save rate on the year is a sparkling 92.5.
Parker has been the starting goalie since eighth grade. She was on the team that went to state two seasons ago.
“She’s playing very well. She’s well over a 90% save percentage. She’s keeping us in a lot of games,” McIvor said. “Like when we’re having 12 shots or 14 shots, some of [the opponents] have had 60 shots. It’s just, we need to help her out in front of the net. That was right in front of the net, the last goal, so we need to take care of that.”
Devils Lake is tied with Williston for last place in the standings, with three points. The Firebirds are the only team in the state that haven’t won a game.
They’ve had four regulation losses and three overtime losses. If a few small things had gone their way, their record could look a lot different.
The needed areas of improvement are clear to McIvor.
“Getting out of our zone. Making good passes. Defending our own zone better,” he said. “And moving the puck up successfully through the zone, get in the zone and then attack it aggressively. The last part, I think we’re doing an okay job at. Our defense in our own end needs some work right now.”
This was the last action for Devils Lake before the new year. The Firebirds will host seventh-place Mandan on Jan. 2.
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