The Minot High boys’ hockey team is embarking on the start of a new season, as they look to rebound from a 16-10-0 record where they fell in the quarterfinals of the state tournament last year.

Just as they did in the previous season, the Magicians opened against the Devils Lake Firebirds. This time, however, the team will be on the road and will look to have a different outcome than the 4-3 loss that they were dealt to begin last season.

On Monday night, prep hockey made its return as the Magi and Firebirds started to write their story for the 2022-23 season. Fans, parents, players, and coaches made their way to Burdick Arena for a welcomed sight on the ice, as the Magi got off on a positive note, beating the Firebirds by a 6-2 final.

It didn’t take long for the Magi to get off to a strong start when Mackley Morelli got the scoring started by firing a quick wrist shot past Firebirds goaltender Brody Forsberg, assisted by Jaxon Bradley, to give Minot a 1-0 lead early in the first period.

Once the Magi got going, they couldn’t stop as Colton Schuster snuck a shot through the five-hole for a goal (assisted by Andrew Kohlman) and Ben Svangstu scored a power-play goal (assisted by Bradley and Caelton Eslinger) late in the period, extending the lead to 3-0 as the Magi had firm control early on.

Starting in net for the Magi was Blays Ostrom, who had no trouble denying any opportunity the Firebirds put together in the first period. Defensively, Haeven Freeman came up big for Minot with two blocks to prevent a serious scoring threat from developing.

If the fast start and excellent early play was any indication of how the season opener would go for Minot, it’s clear they were ready to make a statement and could not have dreamed of a better start.

Carrying over the hot hand, or hot stick, to period two was Svangstu who connected on another power-play goal for his second of the game, assisted by Eslinger and Morelli to extend the Magi lead to 4-0 as they showed no signs of wanting to slow down.

The Firebirds, however, would get a goal back a few minutes later when Caleb Schwab took a favorable bounce and hit the back of the net to make it a 4-1 game. Opportunities were not readily available for the Firebirds up to this point, as Minot controlled the puck with ease.

It wasn’t until a penalty by Minot that allowed the Firebirds to have a man advantage where they were able to keep the puck in their offensive zone for an extended period of time. They were unable to cash in on the power play, with Minot maintaining a 4-1 lead.

Even with a full period left, Minot was displaying a dominant performance up to this point and the inability of Devils Lake to cash in on power play opportunities would loom large with the firm grip on the game that Minot had.

Looking to see what they have in their goaltending unit, the Magi put Toby Strand in net for period two and he mirrored Ostrom’s performance in period one by keeping the damage to a minimum. Moving into the final intermission, Minot held a 4-1 lead and were looking to close out the contest with a win.

Still hoping to spoil the night the Magi were building, the Firebirds cut the lead in half when Hunter Riggin connected on a goal to open the scoring in period three and making it a 4-2 game. Suddenly, it felt like the outlook was changing a bit, but the Firebirds needed to do something they were struggling to all night: keep the Magi quiet.

And those struggles would continue when Morelli showed off his puck control skills and struck pay dirt on a beautiful top-shelf goal to give Minot a three-goal lead again at 5-2. Jaxson Radke would strike the final blow, sending a slapshot to the back of the net with 1:12 left in the game to bring it to its final of 6-2.

Following the win, there will be a bit of a break in the action before the Magi hit the ice again. Their next scheduled game will be on the road when they head to Bismarck to face Century on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 p.m