Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Jacob Allen (left) fires off a shot while taking contact during a prep boys hockey game against Benson/Morris Area during a Thanksgiving tournament at Red Baron Arena in Marshall on Friday.

MARSHALL — The Marshall boys hockey team’s strength and physicality won out on Friday night when the Tigers kicked off their home Thanksgiving tournament against Morris/Benson Area. The Tigers scored one goal in each of the first two periods and three more in the third, killing off a series of penalties to maintain control in a 5-1 win.

“It definitely boosts our confidence a lot coming off a loss,” Marshall goalie McCoy Guenther said. “We were hungry today, we’re going to be hungry tomorrow and we’re going to keep that confidence for the next game.”

Morris was called for three first-period minor penalties, the second of which turned into a Marshall goal. Jacob Allen broke out into the attacking zone before getting up close to the net and firing off a shot. The puck was deflected, but it got the goalie out of position and Carson Kopitski set up Morgan Rokeh by the faceoff circle, and Rokeh sniped in the go-ahead goal nine minutes into the period.

From there, Marshall sent a steady parade of players to the penalty box. The Tigers were called for a boarding major toward the end of the first period, and another tripping minor early in the second left Marshall on the wrong end of a 5-on-3. Still, Marshall stepped up to kill off the penalty and went on a power play of its own after Morris Area was called for tripping seconds later.

“Everybody had to buy in and contribute, because that’s a lot of time to kill,” Marshall head coach Michael Weiss said of his team’s effort on the penalty kill. “We had a lot of different guys in there [the penalty box], and everyone, when they got their opportunity, did their job.”

Nate Drown and Dylan Steilen took advantage of the power play, with Steilen setting Drown up for a goal seven minutes into the period for a 2-0 lead. The goal was Drown’s second in as many games to start the season after he scored Marshall’s only goal in its season-opening loss to Fergus Falls.

Guenther posted his first shutout of the season in goal for Marshall, saving each of the first 12 shots he faced in a 14-save performance.

“I thought our team did a good job of running the penalty kill pretty good and getting the pucks out when we needed it,” Guenther said when asked about his success in goal on the night. “Didn’t allow a whole lot of scoring chances on those, which is a really good job, just need to stay a little more disciplined and hopefully we can keep this rolling into the next game.”

Marshall committed five penalties to spend a total of 24 minutes in the box in the game, including a checking-from-behind game misconduct in the second period that featured 12 Marshall penalty minutes. Morris, meanwhile, committed eight penalties for 19 minutes in the box.

The Storm killed off a penalty to start the final stanza, but Marshall didn’t let Morris pick up any momentum from the stop.

Koda Peterson increased Marshall’s lead to 3-0 with a goal 70 seconds into the frame off an assist from Riley Pfannschmidt, coasting on one knee toward the student section on the opposite end of the ice while shooting an imaginary bow and arrow before jumping up against the glass in front of the home fans to celebrate.

Before the Storm even had time to catch its breath, Morgan Rokeh added another goal off an assist from Allen and Drown to bring Marshall’s lead to 4-0 just 44 seconds later.

Morris/Benson lost its starting goalie to an injury during warmups. In his stead, Carson Petrak made 31 saves on 36 shots for the Storm.

Trailing by four goals, the Storm got on the scoreboard with 13 minutes remaining in the third period when Charlie Blume sniped a shot into the top shelf off a feed from Kye Suess. Still, the Tigers again responded quickly when Easton Greenwood worked the puck in close and finished the play to give Marshall a 5-1 lead with 11:24 to play.

First things first

Marshall had a pair of skaters find the back of the net for the first time in their varsity career on Friday. Freshman Morgan Rokeh and junior Easton Greenwood each scored their first career goal in the game to help the tone for Marshall offensively.

“That’s obviously big. We want everybody chipping in, so it’s good when guys can get their first one and kind of get rolling,” Weiss said. “That was a big, big boost to us to get a few quick ones.”

Up next

Marshall will take on Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato in today’s Thanksgiving Classic championship round at Red Baron Arena. Puck drop is slated for 5 p.m.