Photo by Cameron Carlson
DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds led 2-0 after Tuesday’s first period.
Carson Hogness found a clear opening in the left side of the net just 18 seconds into the game. Jackson Schumacher had an assist.
Thomas Leevers scored about nine minutes later. It was all Firebirds through the first 17 minutes.
Devils Lake, though, never scored again in an eventual 4-2 loss to Fargo Davies (10-8, 8-6) at Burdick Arena. The Firebirds (8-11, 5-10) lost their ninth of their last 10 games, mathematically eliminating them from the possibility of hosting a playoff game.
“We started off hot. We came out flying,” Devils Lake head coach Landyn Swenson said. “Come the second period, we put ourselves in a little bit of penalty trouble. They capitalized on a couple. … We played a decent third period, I thought. It’s just, we put ourselves in a bad spot in the second period, and that’s where all their goals came from.”
Davies got goals from four different players over the course of the final two periods.
For Devils Lake, Hogness’ game-opening goal was his fourth of the season.
Despite the Firebirds’ early lead, Davies outshot Devils Lake in the first period, 16-12. Goalie Matt Graue survived multiple rebounds and clusters in front of the net.
Rylan Swenson got his own rebound on the other side of the ice, but missed the put-back shot around the middle of the period, Devils Lake leading 1-0.
With 7:37 left in the first period, Weston Stromme dropped off a clean pass to Swenson. The junior, Coach Swenson’s younger brother, then poked it towards Leevers, who made an almost no-look swing into the net.
The swift sequence extended the lead to 2-0. It was Leevers’ eighth goal and 17th point of the season.
Devils Lake had the first power play of the game on an unsportsmanlike conduct call with 3:46 left in the period. The Firebirds didn’t do anything with it. Just seconds after the Eagles returned to full strength, they got a breakaway but couldn’t poke the shot in.
Devils Lake’s Braxton Devier then went to the box for tripping. Graue survived more traffic in front of the net, keeping Davies scoreless through the final 1:27 of the first period.
The Eagles technically stayed off the board through the entire power play, which extended 33 seconds into the second period. But they scored five seconds later. Kasen Currence scored a goal that developed while the power play had still been going.
Devils Lake, still up 2-1, suffered a big blow with a five-minute major checking-from-behind penalty on Jamison Hanson. Davies’ Luke Voeller tied it up, 2-2, just 18 seconds into the power play.
Graue saved a ton of shots during the rest of a long five minutes. The Eagles inflicted near-constant pressure on Graue in front of the net and attempted their share of long-range shots as well.
Graue managed to make it out of the long power play with the game still tied. But, with 5:18 to go in the second period, Davies’ Cullen Olson scored on a deflection to go ahead 3-2.
The second period flipped the game on its head, Devils Lake now having to fight from behind.
“We were working. Their goalie was making some good saves. He was playing well behind them,” Swenson said. “So we had some opportunities. But you’re not going to score on all of them.”
Graue had to work extra hard with all the penalty time.
“It just came down to, we put ourselves in the penalty box,” Swenson said. “And then that’s just a momentum change.”
After getting outshot 16-5 in the second period, the Firebirds created more opportunities for themselves in the third. The final period had an 8-8 shots-on-goal margin.
Devils Lake stayed out of the penalty box in the third period until the final minute of play.
“If we’re playing 5-on-5, I’ll take us against anyone in the state,” Swenson said.
But nothing poked through for the Firebirds. With 4:19 left, Davies’ Noah Schmidt muscled one into the right corner of the net from off to the side. Davies controlled the puck to end the game, securing a two-goal victory.
Graue saved 36 of 40 shots (90%) while the Firebirds finished with 25 shots on goal of their own.
With the loss, Devils Lake fell to sixth place in the EDC. The Firebirds only have one EDC game left, a road contest against Grafton/Park River on Thursday. Then they’ll host May-Port Area in the regular-season finale on Tuesday for a game that doesn’t have any bearing on the EDC standings.
“It’s just about getting better,” Swenson said. “Put ourselves in an opportunity, come EDC. I think we’re going to be a very tough team. We’ll get a couple guys back; key guys. We’re going to make a run for it. We’re going to do whatever we can and in our own power in order to get there. And so it should be fun.”
The Firebirds already know they won’t be hosting a playoff game. But the postseason will be a fresh start for them, as it will for every team. They’ll have a chance to get back to their early-season ways — when they were 7-2 — and make a run towards the state tournament.
Devils Lake will be on the road somewhere for the EDC quarterfinals on Feb. 17.
“We’ve gone through a lot this year,” Swenson said. “Couple guys out for injuries, or whatever the case was. … We don’t have a ton of guys to really choose from, which kind of sucks. But at the same time, the guys we have, I’ll take them instead of anyone in the state. We’re going to compete every single day.”
