By Matthew Bartow / WLD
Dexter’s Kyle Burke, Brendan Busdeker and Jacob Hofe each scored two goals, and goalie Caleb Kril made 19 saves, leading the Dreadnaughts to an 8-0 win over Southeastern Conference foe Ann Arbor Huron Wednesday at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
Kril was tested in the first minute of the game, as Huron’s Eli Ross had a point-blank scoring chance on a dump into the Dexter’s zone. Kril responded with one of his best saves of the night, denying Huron early momentum.
From there, the Dreadnaught offense seized control of the game. About a minute after Kril’s save, Huron was unable to clear its zone, and Dexter made the River Rats pay. Huron goalie Min-Seok Kim made two saves in the sequence, but a snap shot from the point by Burke found the back of the net to give the Dreads a 1-0 lead at 15:04 of the first period. Joey Fracassi assisted on the goal.
Dexter continued to pile shots on Kim, but momentarily it could not increase its lead despite outshooting Huron 7-1 through the first 4 minutes of the game. But the Dreadnaught offense attacked relentlessly, and eventually was able to pile up goals.
Busdeker scored his first of two goals for the game with a perfect deflection on a point shot by teammate Ryan Kniesteadt. Jackson Cyganski also assisted on the goal, which gave Dexter a 2-0 lead with 11:29 remaining in the period.
In hockey, the team that controls possession of a puck is bound to get a lucky bounce or two, and Dexter took advantage of one to increase its lead. A shot from the blue line ricocheted off Kim and over top of the net, bounced back into play, and Burke, who was in the perfect position, pounced on the loose puck and roofed a shot over Kim into the corner of the net to give Dexter a 3-0 lead with 6:09 remaining in the first period.
Dexter broke through on Kim late in the first period after Huron’s Ross was assessed a five-minute major penalty for an illegal check to the head. Kim saved Dexter’s first 10 shots on the power play, but just when it looked like Dexter would escape unscathed, Hofe emerged with the puck out of a scramble in front of the net and fired home a rebound to give the Dreads a 4-0 lead with 8 seconds remaining in the first period.
Dexter led 4-0 after the first period and outshot Huron 29-6.
The Dreads increased their lead midway through the second period. Kril made two great saves to thwart a Huron power play, and just as the Dexter penalty expired, Nate Kniesteadt forced a Huron turnover, beat a Huron defender skating to the net, and snuck a wrist shot past Kim to give Dexter a 5-0 lead with 4:37 remaining in the period.
Dexter led 5-0 after the second period and outshot Huron 15-9 in the second period, giving it a 44-15 shot advantage after two periods.
The Dreads scored three times in the third period, with Busdeker and Hofe each scoring their second goal of the game in the period.
Dexter’s final goal of the game, which came on a shot from the boards that tricked Kim, gave it an eight-goal lead which, per M.H.S.A.A rules, immediately ended the contest.
Dexter improves to 10-4 on the season with the victory, and returns home to battle Monroe St. Mary’s Catholic Central on Jan. 29.
