Zach Knapp's hat trick and Curtis Tolle's three assists led the Park Rapids-Menahga boys hockey team to an 8-1 victory over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley last Friday night at Walker.
The Panthers outshot the Wolves 67-8 in W-H-A's debut as a high school team. The win lifted Park Rapids to 2-0 on the season.
Tucker Coborn opened the scoring just nine seconds into the game with an unassisted goal. Tolle and Landon Kohlrusch set up Knapp on a 5-on-3 power-play goal at the 6:25 mark before Knapp scored again with 1:40 to play in the opening period on assists by Tolle and Coborn.
Andy Floyd's goal with 31 seconds remaining gave the Panthers a 4-0 lead after the first period. Kevin McMor-row set up that goal as the Panthers held a 31-1 edge in shots in the opening period.
Knapp completed his hat trick at the 15:04 mark of the second period with his third goal of the game. McMor-row and Kohlrusch assisted on that power-play goal as the Panthers held a 5-0 lead.
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Jake Karst scored the first goal in W-H-A history at the 8:42 mark before Coborn and Knapp set up Kohlrusch at the 3:02 mark to give Park Rapids a 6-1 advantage.
The Panthers had a 14-4 advantage in shots in that period.
Park Rapids couldn't take advantage of another 5-on-3 advantage early in the third period, but scored the game's final two goals in the final three minutes.
Kyle Kanten scored on assists by Colter Hensel and Zach Lehrke while Floyd and Tolle assisted on the final goal by Bill Winkler. The Panthers held a 22-3 edge in shots in the final period.
Park Rapids goalie Brady Yrjo made seven saves for the win while W-H-A goalie Devin Weberg finished with 59 saves in this battle of Section 8A teams.
In the first two games of the season, the Panthers have outscored their opponents 15-1 and have a commanding 103-20 advantage in shots. Coborn, Knapp and Brandon Mickelson lead the team with three goal each while Winkler and Kanten have two goals apiece. Lehrke and Tolle lead the way with four assists apiece while McMorrow has three assists.
The Panthers travel to St. Paul to play Como Park and St. Bernard's this weekend before returning home to host Mid-State Conference rival Detroit Lakes Tuesday night.
Park Rapids 4 2 2 8
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W-H-A 0 1 0 1
FIRST PERIOD: 1, Park Rapids, Coborn (unassisted), 16:51. 2, Park Rapids, Knapp (Tolle, Kohlrusch), 6:25. 3, Park Rapids, Knapp (Tolle, Coborn), 1:40. 4, Park Rapids, Floyd (McMorrow), :31. Penalties: Park Rapids 2, W-H-A 5.
SECOND PERIOD: 5, Park Rapids, Knapp (McMorrow, Kohlrusch), 15:04. 1, W-H-A, Karst (unassisted), 8:42. 6, Park Rapids, Kohlrusch (Coborn, Knapp), 3:02. Penalties: Park Rapids 1, W-H-A 2.
THIRD PERIOD: 7, Park Rapids, Kanten (Hensel, Lehrke). 8, Park Rapids, Winkler (Floyd, Tolle). Penalties: Park Rapids 0, W-H-A 3.
GOALIE SAVES: Park Rapids (Yrjo) 1-3-3-7. W-H-A (Weberg) 27-12-20-59.
