Detroit Lakes Boys Hockey Advances To Section Semifinals with Win Over Kittson

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The Laker boys hockey team advanced in the Section 8A boys’ hockey tournament on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Kittson County Central at the Kent Freeman Arena.

Brothers Easton and Aiden Kennedy combined for four goals in the winning effort as Detroit Lakes will move on to the semifinals on Saturday night. The Lakers scored the game’s first goal when Easton Kennedy found the back of the net for his first career varsity playoff goal and made the score 1-0 heading into the first intermission.

The Lakers took two penalties in the first period but were able to kill off both powerplay chances by the Bearcats. The Bearcats scored their first goal when Morgan Muir found the back of the net on a rebound shot. Kittson added another goal less than two minutes later when 8th grader Eli Muir scored on a Laker defensive zone turnover to give the Bearcats their first lead. The Lakers answered at the 7:02 mark of the period when Tommy Suckert shot the puck from the blue line, and Cole Larson redirected it passed Kittson goalie Jameson Turner.

At the 8:26 mark, Ethan Hanson beat DL goalie Josh Mack from the neutral zone and gave the Bearcats their final lead of the game at 3-2. Detroit Lakes scored two more goals to tie and take the lead when Aiden Kennedy and Chase Kukowski got their names on the scoresheet and gave the Lakers the lead heading into the 3rd period up 4-3. The Lakers added another goal five minutes into the third period when Easton Kennedy scored his second goal. Despite being a team with little depth, the Bearcats showed grit and did not give up, scoring their fourth goal when Timothy Johnson found the back of the net at the 7:30 mark of the 3rd period.

Leading 5-4, the Lakers added an insurance goal at the 13:08 mark of the third when Aiden Kennedy scored his second goal to secure victory for the Lakers. Detroit Lakes outshot Kittson County Central 32-23 and were perfect on the penalty kill. KCC’s leading scorer Tyler Hennen did not score a goal in the game, and their second-leading scorer Hayden Olsonawski was also held to zero goals. Hennen entered the playoffs leading all players in Minnesota with 71 goals and 50 assists.

Josh Mack had 19 saves in the win and picked up his 17th win. The three-seeded Lakers will return to action on Saturday night when they take on the number two-seeded East Grand Forks Green Wave at Thief River Falls at 6 pm. EGF beat Bagley-Fosston 7-0 on Thursday. KDLM will be there for the broadcast on Saturday night with pregame coverage beginning around 6 pm.

Box score

KCC 0 3 1- 4

DL 1 3 2 – 6

1st Period

14:12 Detroit Lakes Easton Kennedy (even strength) (Ben Hines)

2nd Period

2:13 Kittson County Central Morgan Muir (short-handed) (Tyler Hennen)

4:04 Kittson County Central Eli Muir (even strength) (Hayden Olsonawski, Tyler Hennen)

7:02 Detroit Lakes Cole Larson (even strength) (Tommy Suckert)

8:26 Kittson County Central Ethan Hanson (even strength) (Dana Brown)

9:57 Detroit Lakes Aiden Kennedy (even strength) (Cole Deraney, Cole Larson)

14:46 Detroit Lakes Chase Kukowski (even strength) (Tommy Suckert, Carter Bellefeuille)