For the third year in a row, the Park Rapids-Menahga-Nevis-Walker-Hackensack-Akeley boys hockey team was held scoreless in a Section 8A quarterfinal game.
East Grand Forks, the No. 1 seed, used a 45-13 advantage in shots to shut out the No. 8-seeded Panthers 4-0 Thursday night at East Grand Forks. East Grand Forks is the defending section and state Class A champion.
The Green Wave took a 1-0 lead on Reed Corbid’s goal 3:19 into the game. Two key saves by EGF goalie Josh Weber at the 7:02 mark of the first period and 7:15 mark of the second period preserved the slim lead.
“Those were huge,” said Park Rapids head coach Pete Stahnke. Score and we get some momentum. We were trying to clog the middle on defense, chip the puck out and try to get some breakaways, but we weren’t able to capitalize.”
With 35 seconds left in the second period, Bauer Brown scored off a rebound to give EGF a 2-0 advantage.
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East Grand Forks sealed the victory on Tanner Tweten’s goal at the 1:38 mark of the third period and Bowen’s goal with 32 seconds to play.
Park Rapids goalie Austin Jerger finished with 41 saves as the Panthers were shut out for only the third time this season. Weber stopped all 13 shots he faced for his fifth shutout of the season.
“(Jerger) had a good night,” said Stahnke. “(EGF) is about as good a shooting team as you’ll see.”
In the past three section quarterfinal games, the Panthers have been outscored 20-0 and outshot 131-32. Two years ago, Warroad used a 44-7 advantage in shots for an 11-0 victory over the No. 6-seeded Panthers while Thief River Falls used a 42-12 advantage in shots to defeat the No. 6-seeded Panthers 5-0 in last year’s quarterfinals.
EGF, which used a 42-11 advantage in shots to defeat the Panthers 4-1 in the season opener, improved to 21-4. EGF is rated No. 3 in the latest state Class A poll. The Panthers end the season with a 12-15 record.
In Thursday night’s other quarterfinal games, No. 2 Thief River Falls defeated No. 7 Lake of the Woods 6-1, No. 3 Warroad defeated No. 6 Crookston 5-0 and No. 4 Detroit Lakes defeated No. 5 Kittson Central 3-1.
Warroad hosts the semifinals tonight (Saturday) and the section championship game next Thursday night at 7.
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Park Rapids 0 0 0…0
East Grand Forks 1 1 2…4
FIRST PERIOD: 1, East Grand Forks, Corbid (Monda, Pesch), 3:19. Penalties: None.
SECOND PERIOD: 2, East Grand Forks, Brown (Loven, Bowen), 16:25. Penalties: Park Rapids 0, East Grand Forks 1.
THIRD PERIOD: 3, East Grand Forks, Tweten (Bowen), 1:38. 4, East Grand Forks, Bowen (Brown), 16:28. Penalties: Park Rapids 1, East Grand Forks 1.
GOALIE SAVES: Park Rapids (Jerger) 13-16-12-41. East Grand Forks (Weber) 5-4-4-13.
