The Midgets will have to wait another day to see their first victory on the ice.
Dickinson boys’ hockey hosted Bismarck Legacy Tuesday night at the West River Ice Center, looking to get a tally in the win column for the first time this season.
The game went down to the wire - an extra eight minute period couldn’t separate the two sides - with a shootout being required to determine a winner.
Legacy executed their shootout to perfection as they won the final stage 2-0 to earn the shootout victory and to spoil Dickinson (0-2-0-1, 0-3-0-1) of their first win. The only consolation for the Midgets was earning their first point of the season.
Both of the Midgets’ attempts were blocked. Taking their two shots were Quentin Lewis and Davin Seibel.
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“There’s a lot of nerves,” Dickinson head coach Dallas Kuntz said. “Everyone in the barn is looking at you. It was bad ice too because we played a whole period and a whole overtime so it was bouncy. I give my guys credit, those two shooters gave it all they got.”
Kuntz made note of how they dominated the offensive zone in the third period and overtime, which led to their end of the ice on the shootout presenting a rougher surface. By no means was it an excuse - just an unfortunate luck of the draw.
Before the shootout, it was 1-1 in overtime as Dickinson pushed for the winning goal. Just like in regulation, goals were hard to come by as neither could get the game-winning goal.
The Midgets held the lead for the majority of the contest. Their goal came in the first period courtesy of Cole Kadrmas, his second of the season, five minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead.
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From there Dickinson’s defense held strong through most of the game. Kuntz was happy with their performance in the defensive zone for once after allowing 13 through their first three games.
“Super proud of our defense,” Kuntz said. “That’s the type of game we’re going to be in all year long. We’re not a team that’s going to score five or six goals a game. We’re going to have to score two or three. We were close to getting that second but the puck wasn’t bouncing our way.”
But as well as they were playing defensively, they couldn’t generate anything on offense. Thirty-six shots resulted in a single goal, including just five in the second period. Meanwhile, Legacy (1-1-1-0, 1-4-1-0) had 27 shots, but earned a power play early in the third period.
Twenty seconds later, the visitors tied the game 1-1 from the stick of Josiah Will. Dickinson goalie Jayce Concha saw his shutout bid fade away, but there was still hope for the Midgets to grab a winning goal.
They too had a power play opportunity - coming towards the end of regulation - but couldn’t convert. Seibel had a golden opportunity to put his side ahead but he couldn’t hang on to the puck and his attack was wasted.
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Overtime was similar to regulation, plenty of defensive zone clearances and pile-ups against the boards.
It was a much cleaner outing for the Midgets, surrendering only one penalty and goal, while outshooting the Sabers 36-27.
But their quest for their first victory of the 2021-22 season remains on hold as a matchup with Bismarck Century on Friday, Dec. 10 looms.
“The boys have to keep battling,” Kuntz said. “It’s about shoring up the minor details. Even if we don’t get scored on those 30-40 seconds in our end…blocking shots we did better. We need to shoot to score more. We have to crash the net. More rebounds equal more scoring opportunities.”
SCORING
BL - 0 0 1 0, SO - 2, 2
DHS - 1 0 0 0, SO - 0, 1
First Period
DHS - Cole Kadrmas (2), assisted by Kasey Stengel (1) and Kylar Blotske (1), 5:06, 1-0
Third Period
BL - Marcus Butts (2), assisted by Caleb Moore (1), 4:19, 1-1
Shootout
BL - Josiah Will, goal
DHS - Quentin Lewis, miss
BL - Marcus Butts, goal
DHS - Davin Seibel, miss
