Photo by Noah Clooten
Devils Lake boys’ hockey earned its second consecutive shutout on Tuesday — each by a score of 2-0.
The Firebirds beat Fargo North at home, four days following their road win over West Fargo Sheyenne. Brody Forsberg saved all 28 shots on him. Against Sheyenne, he saved all 37 shots on goal. His save percentage on the season is now 91.8.
It was Senior Night on Tuesday, and the Firebirds brought their best effort. Against a Fargo North team they lost 7-5 to earlier this season, they were scoreless through two periods.
Braxton Boline scored a power play goal at 9:16 in the third period. It was Boline, of course, who scored the game-winning goal in Devils Lake’s upset win over Grand Forks Central. It was only his third goal of the season, but he’s come up huge when it’s mattered most.
Withjust 17 seconds left in the game, Logan Stokke put it away with an even-strength goal. It was Stokke’s ninth goal of the year, good for third on the team.
Fargo North was narrowly ahead in the shots-on-goal margin, 28-25. But Forsberg stayed strong for his second shutout of the season, both coming in the last week.
The win moved Devils Lake into sixth place in the EDC with one game remaining in the regular season. The Firebirds are 7-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play. Fargo North sits right ahead of them in fifth place.
Devils Lake’s regular season concludes on Thursday at 5 p.m. against eighth-place Fargo South/Shanley. The Firebirds lost 5-2 to this team on Feb. 4. They’re 3-1 in their last four games and will look to cap the regular campaign with a win ahead of the EDC tournament.
The top four seeds of the region bracket, which commences Feb. 18, are already set. Central is No. 1, Grand Forks Red River is No. 2, West Fargo is No. 3 and Fargo Davies is No. 4. The Firebirds are still in contention for the No. 5 seed, which would match them up against Davies in the first round. If they stay at No. 6, they’ll face West Fargo. If they fall to No. 7 — which they only lead by one point — then they’ll play Red River first.
