Jays fly by Devils Lake

Talk about it

Matt Stockert watched his Jamestown High School boys hockey team put on a scoring clinic at Devils Lake on Saturday.

Against Firebirds goalie Holden Kurtz who Stockert called “one of the best in the state,” the Blue Jays scored at will, peppering Kurtz’s net with 54 shots in an 8-3 victory.

“If he’s on, it’s hard to put it by him,” Stockert said of Kurtz. “We made a few changes (on our lines) before Minot and they didn’t click against Minot. But they started clicking against Century. I think (Saturday), overall, it was clicking.”

The Blue Jays avenged a 4-2 loss to Devils Lake from Dec. 28 and showed a glimpse of the potential Stockert feels they have against quality competition. Devils Lake beat Minot earlier this season.

Stockert said the Jays dealt with another second-period lull, but it lasted only three minutes. They allowed two goals during that time frame, but came back with scores from Alex Williams and Jake Stilwell to equalize the setback.

“It was definitely a wake-up call,” Stockert said. “We started going after pucks and winning races.”

Stilwell had two goals and two assists, while Williams finished with two goals and an assist. Nick Watne, Anthony Cook, Jakobi Lux and Austin Rene found the net as well.

Jamestown goalie Tygh Yatskis stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced.

“We got some real good goaltending out of Tygh,” Stockert said. “He had a couple of really big saves. We’ve kind of been looking for Tygh to have a good game.”

The Blue Jays will be no lower than a fifth seed in the West Region tournament in Minot in less than two weeks. They could leapfrog Bismarck High for fourth with wins over Mandan at home Tuesday and at Bismarck High on Thursday. They would also need Bottineau-Rugby to beat the Demons on Saturday in what will be a six-point game.

Jamestown 8, Devils Lake 3

Jamestown 3 2 3 — 8

Devils Lake 1 2 0 — 3

Scoring

First period: 1, J, Nick Watne (Anthony Cook), 5:58. 2, J, Alex Williams (Jakobi Lux, Brandon Stahlhut), 7:18. 3, DL, Matthew Boren (Cole Thompson), 7:18. 4, J, Lux (Jake Stilwell), 15:30.

Second period: 5, DL, Logan Kraft (Tanner Elshaug, Damond Brokke), 0:42. 6, DL, Thompson (Chris Dahlen), 3:02. 7, J, Williams (Stilwell), 9:45. 8, J, Stilwell (unassisted), 15:05.

Third period: 9, J, Cook (Matt Grounds), 3:16. 10, J, Austin Rene (Nick Stockert, Tommy Bruns), 3:51. 11, J, Stilwell (Williams), 15:30.

Goalie saves: J, Tygh Yatskis 7-10-4—21, Brian Wenzel x-x-4—4. DL, Holden Kurtz 15-12-19—46.

Penalties: J 5 minors, DL 1 major, 7 minors.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, hockey, jays