Joey Payeur
Spencer Murphy didn’t have too much to do for the first two periods Friday night.
But when he was needed most, he did his team—and country—proud.
The Grade 9 rookie goalie made two mammoth saves early in the third period as the Muskie boys’ hockey team escaped with a 1-0 win over the host International Falls Broncos in the opening round of this season’s two-part “Battle of the Border” exhibition series.
The series finale will take place Feb. 6 at the Ice For Kids Arena here.
“We didn’t play as well as usual,” said Murphy, who turned aside all 16 shots he faced to make Chase McGuire’s first-period marker stand up.
“But we picked up the win and that’s all that matters in the ‘Battle of the Border.’”
Murphy was at his best for the Muskies in the opening stages of the final frame after only having to make seven stops up to that point.
He didn’t flinch when Kane Kostiuk got around Muskie defenceman Brandon Kocuiba with an outside move to walk in alone—only to have Murphy get the pads down in time.
A Broncos’ player later shovelled the puck into the open cage but the play already had been blown dead in what was a trend for the Falls on this night (the Broncos put three pucks in the net—all after the whistle had gone).
“I wasn’t expecting that at all since they had almost had a couple of chances like that in the second but Brandon got back to stop them in time,” noted Murphy.
Just over a minute later, the Falls wound up with a 2-on-0.
Ethan Alleman deked to the backhand but Murphy thrust out his skate and got the smallest of toes on the puck to redirect it wide.
“I was very nervous on that one,” he grinned.
McGuire gave the Muskies the only tally they would need at 5:37 of the first when he created a turnover inside Fort High’s zone, drove down the right wing, and cut around the Broncos’ defender Joe Growack before zipping a shot past goalie Jake Klow.
“Chase did the same thing last year in the home game against the Falls—got the puck out, broke out the other way, and scored,” recalled Murphy.
After being outshot 7-1 in the first, the Broncos picked up the pace in the second.
Brady Wright took a lead pass and seemed to have a sure breakaway, but took a misstep that threw him off his stride and allowed Kocuiba to catch him.
An ice-cold power play also haunted the Broncos on Friday night.
The Falls went 0-for-3 in the game, including when Cam Gushulak picked up a five-minute major for cross-checking with just 2:36 to go.
Klow went to the bench for an extra attacker with a minute to go to set up a 6-on-4 for the Falls, but the home squad was unable to generate any real scoring chances.
“Our problem has been getting pressure down low,” noted Broncos’ captain Riley Nemec.
“I think we did that better tonight, but we still have to work on getting the puck down low and getting the pucks to the net,” he stressed.
Murphy was appreciative of the frenzied Muskie fans who attended the game—many of whom came decked out wearing Fort High sweaters and even carrying Canadian flags.
“I think it was great that they all came out,” he remarked.
“It felt even like we had a lot more fans than the Falls had with all the noise they were making.”
Murphy also said he was surprised the Broncos were as tough as they were considering their 1-8 overall record this season.
“They wanted the win, we just wanted it more,” he reasoned.
The Muskies, meanwhile, began play at a tournament in Thief River Falls yesterday, with the score of their first game unavailable at press time.
Action continues through tomorrow.
The squad then heads to Hallock, Mn. on Tuesday to face the Kittson Bearcats in another exhibition matchup.
Their Next home game is a NorWOSSA clash Jan. 10 against the Kenora Broncos.
