Grand Rapids Hockey vs Maple Grove-2017 State Tournament 1/4 Finals

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Grand Rapids beats Maple Grove in Minnesota 2017 State Hockey Tourney- Quarter Finals- FOUR-GOAL 2ND LIFTS RAPIDS PAST MAPLE GROVE IN AA QUARTERS Staff Report Mar 9, 2017 0 Gavin Hain Kyle Nel son A four-goal second period outburst was the difference in sending the Grand Rapids boys hockey team to Class AA semifinals after a 6-4 win over Maple Grove at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Thursday. The Thunderhawks play No. 1 Eden Prairie in the semifinals Friday night. Grand Rapids found itself in an early 2-0 deficit just four and a half minutes into the game. However, a power play goal later in the period put the Thunderhawks on the board. Then Grand Rapids came out and put together a dominant second period, scoring four goals while outshooting the Crimson, 19-8, in the frame to take a 5-2 lead. Playing from behind wasn’t exactly where the Thunderhawks wanted to be, said Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt, but it served as a wake up call for the team to pick up its play. “For some reason we like to play better when we’re down a couple goals,” Klatt said. “I wish it wasn’t that way. It’s not the way we draw it up. We find ourselves in situations like that where we have to come back. And we have that ability. “We’re not worried when we get behind a couple goals because we can score.” When Grand Rapids trailed Elk River/Zimmerman, 2-0, in the Section 7AA semifinals, the spark was provided by a power play goal from Gavin Hain. After a penalty on the Crimson late in the first period, that was the case again as Hain scored on the man-advantage at 11:32. Grand Rapids gained control of the momentum and carried it into the second period. John Stampohar scored at 5:03 to tie the game, 2-2. Another penalty on Maple Grove set up the Thunderhawks’ next goal after Jack Burnson swatted the puck mid-air into the Crimson net. Just under a minute later, Drake Anderson fired a shot from the circle under the pads of Maple Grove goalie Ethan Haider for a 4-2 lead. With 3:24 remaining in the period, Blake McLaughlin cleaned up his own rebound to make it a 5-2 Thunderhawks lead. “We got a few lucky bounces and once we pumped that second (goal) in, the floodgates kind of opened up,” McLaughlin said. Maple Grove’s Justin Kelley scored 18 seconds into the third period to cut the lead to 5-3, but Grand Rapids answered at 6:03 when McLaughlin netted his second goal. Jayden Walsh brought it back to a two-goal game at 9:03, then a late penalty on Grand Rapids put the Crimson on a power play with 1:16 remaining. Maple Grove gained two extra attackers with Haider going to the bench, but Thunderhawks goalie Zach Stejskal denied a flurry of shots in the closing minute. Maple Grove coach Todd Bergland said although the Crimson played well in the first and third periods, penalties were costly for the Crimson. “We wanted to keep them off the power play because we knew they had a good power play,” he said. “We gave them a few chances and they executed.” Stejskal had 25 saves for the Thunderhawks and Haider had 28. Micah Miller and Michael Heitkamp each had two assists for Grand Rapids. Klatt said there’s no denying it’s going to be a tough matchup for the Thunderhawks against Eden Prairie in the semifinals, a team they lost to, 6-2, in the same game a year ago. “It’s going to be a huge game,” he said, “We all know how good (Eden Prairie) is. We’ve been reading about them and Casey Mittelstadt all year so it’s certainly going to be a challenge for us that’s as big as they come. “We’ve played some games here in the last couple weeks that will help us get through tomorrow night, no bigger than the Elk River and Duluth East games in our section tournament. We’re going to have to bring everything we have to the table.” Eden Prairie came from behind to score three late goals in the third period to defeat Wayzata, 3-1. In the other quarterfinals, Lakeville South topped No. 2 St. Thomas Academy, 5-2, while No. 3 Moorhead picked up a 4-2 win over Hill Murray. Grand Rapids 6, Maple Grove 4 GR 1 4 1 - 6 MG 2 0 2 - 4 First period: 1, MG, Trevor Kukkonen (Sam Huff), :20; 2, MG, Huff (Jack Kelley, Jarrett Cammarata), pp 4:26; 3, GR, Gavin Hain (Michael Heitkamp), pp 11:32. Second period: 4, GR, John Stampohar (unassisted), pp 5:03; 5, GR, Jack Burnson (Keaghan Graeber, Heitkamp), pp 10:55; 6, Drake Anderson (Micah Miller), 11:45; 7, Blake McLaughlin (Burnson, Hain), 13:36. Third period: 8, MG, Justin Kelley (unassisted), :18; 9, GR, McLaughlin (Miller), 6:13; 10, MG, Jayden Walsh (Huff, Kelley), 9:03. Saves: GR, Zach Stejskal 25, M G Ethan Haider 28 Article by Kyle Nelson-Grand Rapids Herald Review