Mike Kraft/MDN Minot United’s Nick Christopher gets taken down to the ice by Legacy’s Brodie Berger during the third period of a WDA contest at Maysa Arena on Thursday, Jan. 15.

The Minot United boys hockey team entered their WDA matchup with Bismarck Legacy with a chance to put a stranglehold on the top spot in the conference standings.

The Sabers had other ideas, as Legacy’s Issac Jerome netted the game-winning goal with 39 seconds remaining in regulation for a 3-2 victory over Minot United on Thursday, Jan. 15, at Maysa Arena.

The Sabers snapped Minot United’s 13-game winning streak and moved within four points of Minot United for the No. 1 spot in the WDA standings with seven games remaining in the regular season. The Sabers have now won 10 in a row since losing their first matchup with Minot United back on Dec. 2. Minot United lost for the first time since Nov. 22.

“Hopefully it’s a little bit of a wakeup call for us,” Minot United co-head coach Jordan Willert said. “That’s a good hockey team over there. They are well-coached, they play the game hard. They out-chanced us. I still think we have the team. We just need a little bit of a reset here and it was a good WDA clash.”

Legacy and Minot United combined for four goals in the first period, but found themselves deadlocked throughout the rest of the game. Nolan Knowles nearly put Minot United in front with less than two minutes remaining, having a quality shot at the net from the faceoff circle, but Legacy goaltender Brody Krumwiede made the save to keep the game tied.

Moments later, Jerome gave the Sabers their first and only lead of the contest in the waning moments. Kyler Renz set the game-winning goal in motion, taking possession of the puck on the opposite side of center ice and skating past two Minot United defenders before dropping a pass off to Jerome in the slot, who lifted a shot over the glove of goaltender Luke Richeson.

“That goal felt amazing,” Jerome said. “I wanted that one. It was a good team effort. It was a good pass from my buddy Kyler and just buried it. I got the opportunity and didn’t fail.”

The regulation victory allowed the Sabers (10-2-2-0 overall, 8-1-1-0 WDA) to secure the maximum three points, denying Minot United at least a point had the game required overtime, though that wasn’t on the mind of the Sabers in the final moments.

“All the points are important right now, but we weren’t really thinking about that,” Legacy coach Ryan Faragher said. “We were just trying to play the game right down to the buzzer. It didn’t matter if a bounce went the other way, the outcome is different, we still would have been happy with the way the guys played.”

Easton Bradley provided the offense in the opening period for Minot United, netting the game’s first two goals to put the home team in front 2-0 in the opening 10 minutes. His first came at 5:48 of the first period, tipping home a shot off a pass from Oliver Thompson. The senior captain fired a pass toward Bradley from the sideboard and Bradley lifted the puck over the glove-side shoulder of Krumwiede to put Minot United on the board.

Bradley added his second of the night and ninth of the season while on the power play. Minot United (13-3-0-0, 10-1-0-0) took advantage of a bench minor penalty assessed to Legacy for having too many men on the ice with Bradley firing a one-timer at the top of the faceoff circle off a pass from Thompson that went five-hole through traffic at 9:17 of the opening stanza.

“We were fresh,” Willert said. “At the end of the game I think they are in better shape than we are. They kind of wore on us, but we worked really hard and got pucks behind their D, took care of pucks, got some stuff to the net, scored a power-play goal. But that’s the thing, you play three periods in hockey.”

Legacy rallied to tie the game before the first intermission with two of the top scorers in the state at the forefront of both goals. Ben Garlie netted his team-leading 18th goal of the year with the Sabers on the power play to cut the deficit in half at 11:12. Garlie blasted a one-timer after receiving a circle-to-circle pass from Harrison Johnson, beating a sprawling Richeson.

“We just stuck to our game plan,” Faragher said. “Obviously, going down 2-0, especially the second goal being a too-many-men penalty, guys were a little deflated, but they didn’t quit. We’ve had teams in the past where we get in that position and they bicker at each other on the bench and it just snowballs from there. I thought their response after that was awesome and it’s something we look for as a coaching staff for a while. This is the type of game that builds good character.”

Garlie entered Thursday’s contest tied for fifth in scoring with 28 points and third in the state in goals.

Johnson had the primary assist on Legacy’s first goal. He tied the game two minutes later with his 16th goal of the year. Johnson – second in the state in scoring with 35 points – was in the right place at the right time in front of the net when Carter Houn fired a shot toward the net from the blue line. Houn’s shot hit off the shin of a Minot United defender in front of the net and the puck bounced right to Johnson’s stick. Johnson didn’t hesitate, putting the puck into a wide-open net.

“After that first intermission, all the boys in the locker room came together and we knew from practices that we had this one in us and we weren’t going to let this one slip from us again,” Jerome said. “There was a good momentum shift there and we tried to ride that and stuck to our game.”

Richeson finished with 18 saves and Krumwiede stopped 28 shots.

Minot United hosts Bottineau/Rugby on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Maysa Arena at 7:30 p.m.