Photos by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — Devils Lake boys’ hockey (4-9, 3-6) nearly beat second-place West Fargo (11-4, 7-3) for the second time this season.
On a day when various games were canceled around the state of North Dakota due to extreme cold, the Packers managed to make the trip from Fargo to Burdick Arena on Monday. The Firebirds, who beat this same team 5-2 on Dec. 5, led 3-2 after two periods. But Devils Lake ultimately let the lead slip away in a 5-3 defeat.
“We played our systems really well all the way through two periods,” Firebirds head coach Landyn Swenson said. “Got a little tired in the third period, and then [the Packers] were able to put a couple in the back of the net. It’s the game of hockey, and it’s just what happens. But overall, I thought our guys played pretty well.”
Devils Lake got goals from Brody Parker, Ben Larson and Weston Stromme. The Packers outshot the Firebirds 34-18 despite Devils Lake’s 8-7 advantage in the second period. The first three West Fargo goals came within the first 2:16 of each period, and the Packers scored two more to put the game away.
“They’re a very good hockey team over there,” Swenson said. “I’m not gonna take that away from them. But at the end of the day…didn’t have enough gas to finish it out.”
Weston Nelson got a shot off for Devils Lake seconds into the game, but the West Fargo goalie cleared it away. The Packers scored just a minute and six seconds into the game on a goal by Ryan Bredahl.
The Firebirds rapidly found themselves in a 1-0 hole, and things weren’t getting much better. West Fargo continued to attack, playing aggressively and controlling the possessions. It took 13 shots on goal in the first period compared to Devils Lake’s five.
But Firebirds goalie Brody Forsberg settled in. He saved shots both long and short.
West Fargo had two penalties in the first period. The first was a slashing call with 8:49 left, but Devils Lake couldn’t do anything with it. The Firebirds did a good job protecting the goal, but struggled to keep it out of their zone.
With 55.8 seconds to go in the first period, West Fargo was hit with its second penalty, a roughing call. Devils Lake attacked and found the net 20 seconds later off the stick of its leading scorer, Brody Parker. He was assisted by Nelson and Weston Stromme.
So despite getting seemingly outplayed for most of the period, Devils Lake had life and was all knotted up with West Fargo heading into the second period. The Firebirds did not commit any penalties of their own — which proved instrumental in keeping them in it.
But it took all of 28 seconds for West Fargo to retake the lead.
Bryce Mattern found himself all alone in front of Forsberg. He gradually made his way in and used a deceptive move to sneak the puck in the left side of the net.
Despite the immediate punch, Devils Lake played a much steadier second period. It outshot West Fargo 8-7. Nelson nearly scored at 8:37, having a close-range shot saved.
“We just put pressure on them,” Swenson said. “Caused turnovers in the neutral zone. And then just took away any shot opportunities; got in those shooting lanes.”
Just under three minutes later, Larson swung one in from mid-range, assisted by Nelson. It was Larson’s third goal of the season, tying the game back up with another response.
“No matter where we put him, he’s gonna produce,” Swenson said of Larson. “We have him at defense, and he’s done a great job there. We started him off at forward. But anything you ask for him, the kid’s not gonna complain.”
With 2:35 left in the second period, and the game still knotted up, the Firebirds were charged with their first penalty of the game. It was slashing on Nelson.
Stromme intercepted a West Fargo pass during the power play, and he sprinted down with virtually nobody on him. Stromme flung one into the net for an unassisted goal. Devils Lake, despite being short-handed, took a 3-2 lead.
“He’s been one of the top guys for us this year,” Swenson said of Stromme, who’s second on the team with nine goals. “He’s a natural goal scorer. So when he gets an opportunity like that, reading a play like that and getting that breakaway and scoring, it’s good to see.”
But for the third straight period, West Fargo opened with a goal in the first few minutes. It came with 14:44 left in the game, as Alex Arneson snuck one in to tie it up again at 3-3.
And this time, Devils Lake couldn’t respond.
Mattern scored his second goal of the game just over two minutes later, running in with no defenders on him to give West Fargo a 4-3 lead. Devils Lake let a 10:04 power play slip by, and the Packers padded their lead at 6:40. Gradyon Peterson passed one across the net to Ashton Wigestrand, who put it in the right side of the net.
It was 5-3, and Devils Lake’s comeback chances evaporated.
Nelson was charged with Devils Lake’s third penalty of the game, a tripping call, at 2:43. All three penalties belonged to Nelson.
The teams received coincidental penalties with 0.8 seconds left. The clock ran out, and Devils Lake took a tough loss after leading just 15 minutes earlier.
The Firebirds still showed they could compete with one of the top teams in the EDC. Across two games, they outscored the Packers 8-4 over the first five periods and 8-7 overall. Monday’s loss ended a two-game winning streak.
“Just stopping them, slowing them down is a big thing,” Swenson said. “You win some; you lose some. But overall, I thought we played alright.”
Devils Lake travels to play Grand Forks Red River on Thursday before returning to host Jamestown on Friday.
