With less than six minutes to play, Devils Lake boys’ hockey was on the cusp of a 1-0 shutout in its quest to advance to the East Region Tournament.
But a shot got by Brody Forsberg, one of the best goalies in the state. It was a brand new game with the clock ticking towards the end of regulation.
“Stick with the game plan,” head coach Landyn Swenson said. “Stick with doing our systems. Keep working hard. It’ll come.”
With the game briefly at a standstill, Devils Lake saw an unlikely hero rise to the occasion: Austin Kempel. The senior defender had only scored one goal all season coming into Saturday’s play-in game. But he flicked one in the net just 29 seconds after the game had been tied, bringing the Firebirds’ momentum back as if they’d never lost it.
“Coach says never beat yourself up,” Kempel said. “Always go out and do it right back to them.”
And Devils Lake hung on to win, beating Grafton/Park River 3-1 in a play-in game at Burdick Arena on Saturday. The No. 8 Firebirds (7-13-1, 4-12) hosted the No. 9 Spoilers (6-15, 0-13), with the winner moving on to play No. 1 Grand Forks Red River in the quarterfinals of the East Region Tournament.
It’ll be the Firebirds sneaking their way into the tournament’s final spot.
“It’s an awesome feeling anytime you can win the game and make it to the Eastern Conference,” Swenson said. “Anything can happen then. So we’re gonna keep pushing the guys to work harder in practice and go from there.”
The game was scoreless for nearly the entire first two periods. The Spoilers were attacking as aggressively as they could early on, but they struggled to take clean shots. Devils Lake led them in shots on goal 13-8 in the first period, but nothing could sneak through for the Firebirds either.
Neither team could find the perfect location.
“Keep working it down low, moving it up to high,” Swenson said. “We changed it up. We wanted to go D-to-D more; that opens up the ice. We did that a lot more in the second and third period, and success came with it.”
The Firebirds broke through on a goal by Weston Nelson with 2:40 to go in the second period. They had started to control the puck more late in the first period, and they kept at it until finally getting the opening they needed. Grafton goalie Carter Troftgruben was briefly taken out of the crease, allowing Nelson to tap the puck into the open goal.
“Just the guy in the right spot at the right time,” Swenson said. “He’s done that all year. He’s been in the right spot at the right time, working his butt off. And that’s what we preach.”
It was a weight off Devils Lake’s shoulders after coming so close all game but failing to get one in the net.
Earlier in the second period, the Firebirds had received a penalty for too many men on the ice at one time, a judgment call that the Devils Lake coaches appeared to disagree with.
But the defense hung strong through the power play. The Firebirds missed some open shots down the stretch of the second period, including Logan Stokke after multiple deflections off Troftgruben. But it was only a matter of time before a breakthrough would come for the Firebirds, who outshot Grafton 31-23 through the first two periods.
“They blocked a lot of shots. Props to them. They’re a well-coached team,” Swenson said. “Just mainly trying to open up the ice and get those shots. Another thing is, we try to take away the goalie’s eyes. The goalie, if he can’t see the puck, is probably not gonna save it. So we made those adjustments, and we came through.”
Still a 1-0 game through most of the third period, Devils Lake was looking for the elusive goal that would seal up its chances of winning, while Grafton was trying to reset the score and knot things up. The Spoilers committed two penalties within about a minute of each other — the latter penalty was five minutes for kicking.
Devils Lake had a five-on-three advantage for 53 seconds, but it couldn’t make anything of it. Heading towards the 10-minute mark, the teams had a four-on-four matchup in which the Firebirds fought hard at the net, but Troftgruben was able to trap the puck on the ground each time.
Nelson, whose heroics had put Devils Lake in this position in the first place, committed a penalty with 8:34 to go. Even with the disadvantage, the Firebirds managed to keep the puck on Grafton’s side of the ice. Caleb Schwab broke through the defense and had an unobstructed shot on goal, but he missed it.
Nelson nearly scored another goal after returning to the ice. Grafton briefly had a wide open net, but Nelson couldn’t maintain his balance.
The Spoilers committed a penalty at the 6:26 mark, and Nelson was charged with a slashing penalty four seconds later. With Nelson sitting in the penalty box once again, Grafton’s Waylon Schrank fired a goal at the 5:45 mark. It was a tie game.
It would have been easy for Devils Lake to let that deflate the energy it had going. But the Firebirds hardly had a chance to digest what had even happened before Kempel, at the 5:16 mark, put them back in front. Schwab was credited with the assist.
“Caleb Schwab was screening the goalie in front,” Kempel said. “I was like, ‘Shoot. Hopefully it goes in or creates an opportunity.’ And it went in.”
Kempel’s second goal of the season came at a fitting time for him, in his last home game as a senior. He may have to hang up the skates pretty soon, but he certainly finished his Burdick Arena career on a strong note and kept his final season alive for at least one more game.
“It’s really important to me,” Kempel said. “It was probably one of the most important goals of the year. I’m feeling lucky. I’m feeling good.”
It was just as gratifying for Swenson, who’s seen Kempel work hard all year as a more under-the-radar player. In Swenson’s first year as head hockey coach, he’s gotten a chance to help and watch as Kempel’s progressed.
“He’s been one of our most improved players on the team,” Swenson said. “He does the right things all the time. He’s working his butt off in practice. And he’s one of our leaders. To see that goal go in from the point up there with the quick shot, it’s fun to see.”
Devils Lake added another goal at the 2:39 mark for comfort’s sake, and there was no coming back for Grafton this time. Austin Thompson had the goal that sealed the deal, with assists from Ben Larson and Cooper Gefroh.
It allowed the Firebirds to coast comfortably through the final few minutes and move on to the next round. Next up is No. 1 Grand Forks Red River, which has only lost one conference game all year.
“They do a lot of things right,” Swenson said. “So it’s being tough in our defensive zone, win those battles in the corner, guys getting out to their points, and then blocking as many shots as we can. That’s helped us be successful in the past. And it should going forward.”
The Firebirds and Roughriders will face off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Eagles Arena.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
