EAST GRAND FORKS — Warroad was in a strange spot Monday night.
East Grand Forks Senior High scored back-to-back goals in the span of 26 seconds in the third period to pull even with the No. 1-ranked Warriors.
But Warroad's hopes of putting together its first undefeated season since 2004-05 — T.J. Oshie's senior year — are still alive.
Murray Marvin-Cordes snapped a shot through traffic with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third period, then added an empty-netter to finish off a hat trick, as the Warriors escaped the East Grand Forks Civic Center with a 4-2 win over the Green Wave.
Warroad improved to 22-0 on the season. Senior High dropped to 12-9. The teams play a rematch Tuesday in Warroad.
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"I thought we were pretty average," Warroad coach Jay Hardwick said. "We weren't very sharp. (There were) simple mistakes that, it seems like, we continue to make over and over again. But we found a way, which is the most important thing. I know we can play better than that. I give East Grand Forks credit. They played hard. They didn't quit. They played extremely hard and made it hard on us."
The Warriors, who average 5.59 goals per game, have not been in many close contests this season, but their Section 8A rival provided one Monday.
"I know we weren't at our best," said Warroad goalie Hampton Slukynsky, who made 25 saves. "We had a slow start. I thought they kind of took it to us in the first. But we battled."
Warroad took advantage of three-straight Senior High penalties to build a lead late in the second period.
Shaugabay, a Mr. Hockey candidate and a Minnesota Duluth commit, scored a five-on-three power-play goal at 13:37 of the second period to finally break through on Green Wave goalie Chase Mero, who was strong in making 24 saves.
Just 37 seconds later, Marvin-Cordes redirected an Erick Comstock pass for another power-play goal.
"Honestly, I thought we did a pretty good job five-on-five," Senior High coach Tyler Palmiscno said. "That top line is so dangerous whenever they're on the ice. The closer the game gets, the longer the game goes, the more they're on the ice. That's the challenge. But I thought we did a good job."
In the third period, the Green Wave took advantage of a power play to break through on Slukynsky, a Frank Brimsek Award candidate and a Northern Michigan commit.
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Brock Schultz scored on a rebound of a Landon Jameison shot to make it 2-1 at 3:49. On the next shift, Schultz walked a puck from the corner to the net, where Slukynsky made the save, but Jameison finished off the rebound to tie it.
"Down 2-0, going into the third, the game could have gone in either direction," Palmiscno said. "I like that we forced it to go (our way). At times, I thought we dictated and it just wasn't enough tonight. It was a good learning experience for us."
Marvin-Cordes scored the winner by cutting to the middle and snapping it past Mero. The junior forward now has 15 goals on the season.
"You can play them tight," Palmiscno said, "but at the end of the day, we've got to make a few more plays on both sides of the puck."
Warroad 4, EGF Senior High 2
Second period — 1. W, Jayson Shaugabay (Carson Pilgrim, Hampton Slukynsky) 13:37 (pp); 2. W, Murray Marvin-Cordes (Erick Comstock) 14:14 (pp)
Third period — 3. EGF, Brock Schultz (Landon Jameison, Grady Magner) 3:49 (pp); 4. EGF, Jameison (Schultz, Magner) 4:15; 5. W, Marvin-Cordes (Shaugabay) 14:41; 6. W, Marvin-Cordes 16:16 (en)
Goalie saves — W: Slukynsky 12-8-5 — 25; EGF: Chase Mero 4-10-10 — 24
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