DEVILS LAKE — You could see how much it meant to them.
After a 1.7-second face-off, the Devils Lake bench erupted. A flock of Firebirds piled onto each other on the ice. The Burdick Arena stands roared.
The eighth-place Firebirds had just taken down first-place Grand Forks Central.
It was a 2-1 thriller that will go down in Devils Lake hockey history. Central took more shots on goal than Devils Lake by a whopping margin of 50-13 overall, and 39-4 after two periods. Yet the Firebirds led 1-0.
Central tied it in the third period. But Braxton Boline played hero, scoring the go-ahead goal with less than six minutes left. It was just his second goal of the season. Goalie Brody Forsberg held strong all the way to the end, making 49 saves in 50 attempts.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Forsberg said. “Down goes No. 1, you know? We had to really push ourselves to win this game. And obviously [the Knights] didn’t come to expect that. They thought they were gonna come here and wipe us clean and beat our ass.”
The final was a resounding 2-1 victory for Devils Lake (5-12, 4-8) over Grand Forks Central (12-5, 10-2). It was the Firebirds’ first win over Central since 2014. A first-period goal by Weston Stromme — his team-leading 12th — gave the Firebirds an early boost on just their third shot of the game.
Forsberg’s resilient performance brought his season save percentage above 91% in 577 attempts.
“Best goalie in the state by far,” Devils Lake head coach Landyn Swenson said. “It’s not even a question. He showed it tonight. Heck of a game. His grit, his mentality to ‘I’m gonna save every single puck, try my best every single day in order to get better’ — it showed that game. I’m proud of him.”
For the first five minutes and 20 seconds, Devils Lake didn’t take a shot on goal. Central took seven in that span. The Firebirds had trouble getting through the Knights’ defense, and Central had a persistent offensive attack.
The Knights took 14 shots on goal compared to the Firebirds’ one. But with 6:24 left in the first period, interference was called on Central.
Devils Lake finally had an opportunity. During the power play, Weston Nelson made a shot that clanked off the post. But the Firebirds kept fighting, and Stromme managed to get one in the net after assists from Nelson and Jackson Schumacher. The goal came with 4:50 left in the period.
By a brief miracle, Devils Lake led 1-0. It had only taken three shots on goal compared to Central’s 14 — but it had the advantage in the stat that counts.
And it was 18-3 in shots on goal by the end of the first period. But Devils Lake still had the lead. Two of its three shots came during that lone power play.
A tripping penalty on Rylan Swenson carried into the third period. Shortly after returning to full strength, Kole Thompson was charged with cross-checking. But despite numerous more shots, Central didn’t score on either power play.
Forsberg blocked the puck from all angles and positions. He even did the splits at one point while saving a shot. He had to use his glove at times too.
Devils Lake had another case of back-to-back penalties late in the second period. Brody Parker was charged for tripping with 3:54 to go, and Boline for head contact at 1:37.
But Forsberg remained a machine. He saved all 21 shots on him in the second period.
“I was getting tired there midway through the second period,” Forsberg said. “And I pretty much just pushed through it. Pretty used to that.”
Devils Lake didn’t have its own shot on goal in the second period until there was about 2:40 left. And even that shot was from far down the ice. It was a whopping 39-4 in shots on goal at the end of two periods — yet Devils Lake, against all odds, still led 1-0.
Devils Lake had a two-man advantage for a minute and 13 seconds in the third period after a pair of tripping calls on Central. With victory on the horizon, the Firebirds came out faster and took five shots on goal before the Knights got one.
But with 13:40 to go, Central broke through. Trey Clauson poked it in the right side of the net, with Forsberg unable to react quickly enough. There, with a 41-9 shots on goal margin, was a 1-1 tie.
But the power plays kept coming. With 10:23 left, Central was charged with cross-checking. Devils Lake didn’t do much with it. Just over two minutes after the Knights returned to full strength, Central went to the box again for tripping.
Boline had a shot just wide of the net. But Devils Lake stayed on the attack. A cluster of Firebirds formed around the goal.
And Boline put it in.
He raised his arms in glory. Boline, with assists from Logan Stokke and Stromme, reclaimed the lead for Devils Lake. The fans exploded with joy.
“It’s a feeling like none other,” Swenson said. “And then at the end of the game, when you actually win, and you do it, and they’re sore at the end of the game, and they put everything they ever had into it, it’s awesome to see.”
Back in goal, nobody was happier than Forsberg.
“I had my hands up in the air and I could feel it. We’re gonna win this,” Forsberg said. “We’re bringing it home. A lot of emotions here, but I knew we were gonna win it when he put that one in.”
Central went with an empty net and took a timeout at 1:22. The Knights were attacking in Devils Lake’s zone.
The Firebirds got it back down the ice. With 30.7 seconds left, Nelson slid into the Central net, forcing play to stop. The refs had to confer for a minute about where to hold the face-off, and it was eventually brought to the Devils Lake side near center ice.
And so play resumed. Central continued to surround the net and try to find any possible angle. A scramble formed in the corner, and the clock stopped with 1.7 seconds to go.
The rest was a formality. Central couldn’t get a clean shot in time, and the celebration began.
“Just going into every single game having that winning mentality,” Swenson said. “Pushing yourself every single day in order to do the small things right. It’s awesome to come out with a win like that, and it’s gonna push us going forward.”
Devils Lake has four games left in the regular season to try to secure favorable seeding.
“If we just took down No. 1, I think we can beat anybody in the state,” Forsberg said.