It hasn’t been easy sailing recently for the Fergus Falls Otters boys hockey team, but the second of a back-to-back series against the Brainerd Warriors provided more answers than questions. After dropping a game on Thursday to Brainerd at home, the Otters turned the tide with a 3-2 win on Friday night.
The two sides skated to a scoreless first period.
After the first intermission, the Otters came out and scored twice over the first two minutes. Baryden Nelson scored the first goal of the game, as he was helped on the play by Shane Zierden. Moments later, Jack Welde made it a 2-0 game on an unassisted goal. The Warriors answered back with a goal of their own before Leighton Buckmeier scored the eventual game winning goal. He got passes from Colin Becker and Kellen Stenstrom.
Brained brought the game within one just over halfway through the third period but the Otters held on for the victory.
“Guys played well defensively and kept the play to the outside. We created a couple of turnovers in the second period and were able to take advantage of them as well as executing on the power play,” stated Otters coach Mike Donaghue. “Swanny had a tremendous game in net.”
The shots on goal favored the home team, 43-24. Ben Swanson came up with 41 saves in the game.
The win snapped a four game losing streak for the Otters, who improved to 9-7-1 on the season and also 3-5 in Central Lakes Conference play.
They have another back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, with Willmar.
Discuss the news on NABUR, a place to have local conversations The Neighborhood Alliance for Better Understanding and Respect ✔ A site just for our local community ✔ Focused on facts, not misinformation ✔ Free for everyone
