Boys Hockey: Lakers fall to Fergus Falls 4-2 in season opener; will face East Grand Forks on Nov. 28

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The Laker boys’ hockey team suffered a loss in their first game of the season on Saturday, November 25th. The Lakers lost to the Fergus Falls Otters 4-2 at the Kent Freeman Arena. The Lakers, who only have five returners from last year’s team, never led in the loss.

Detroit Lakes saw 12 seniors graduate last year, and the lack of experience combined with the opportunistic play by the Fergus Falls Otters culminated in Detroit Lakes starting off the season with an 0-1 record.

The Otters scored the first goal of the game at the 3:40 mark of the first period when Griffin Babolian received a beautiful pass from Gavin Goepferd and netted the puck from close range, beating Laker goalie, Kale Whitt, with a forehand backhand move. Detroit Lakes tied the game shortly after, when Easton Wahl scored on a power play, receiving a pass from Tommy Suckert.

Both teams started the second period slowly, but the Otters found some momentum later on, scoring two goals in the last seven minutes. Babolian netted his second goal of the game on a power play, and Gavin Goepferd scored his first goal of the game on an odd-man rush to give the Otters a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

In the final period, the Otters scored once again when Jack Welde netted a goal on a power play, making the score 4-1 at the 5:23 mark. The Lakers answered back quickly, 37 seconds later, when Brock Bender scored on a one-timer, assisted by Lawsen Justesen and Owen Chiodo. However, the Lakers could not produce any more offense after that point and, despite outshooting Otters 31 to 18, lost the game.

The Lakers will have a chance to bounce back on Tuesday night when they host a section opponent, East Grand Forks Green Wave, at 7 pm. KDLM will broadcast the game, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 pm.