Edina senior forward Parker Mismash said the Hornets’ 8-3 rout of Grand Rapids on Thursday was tougher than studying for final exams. 

Tougher because players found themselves in a more precarious position in the Edina locker room trailing 2-0 after the first period than sitting in a desk trying to answer a question on a calculus test, he said. 

“It was quiet,” Mismash said of the atmosphere in the locker room. “Really quiet. No words had to be said. We knew we had to come out and make something happen in the second.”

The Hornets did make something happen, as Edina scored four unanswered goals and went back into its locker room with a 4-2 lead after two periods.

There was no panic button to hit, or magical words to say, Edina coach Curt Giles said. It’s good for a team with championship aspirations to occasionally receive a whooping for just a period, he added. 

“You have to get hit in the mouth every once in awhile. It’s good for you to get set back a little bit and see what you got,” Giles said. “They came back in the second and third and played really well.”

The second-period comeback started with a goal by sophomore Bram Scheerer, who weaved through the Thunderhawks’ defense to score. Mismash notched the equalizer 4 minutes later. 

Sam Fuss got the go-ahead with just under 2 minutes to play in the second, and Matt Masterman took the face-off and sent the puck into the back of the net a mere 12 seconds later to put Edina up 4-2 and eliminate the need to work through problems of Advanced Placement calculus proportions in the locker room before the third frame. 

“You don’t make many adjustments. What you do so, more than anything, is you just have to work,” Giles said. “You have to play well defensively, be responsible defensively, and you have to be willing to outwork the guy from across from you, and they decided to do that in the second and third periods.”

Edina had a 4-minute power play to work with in the third period, but Thunderhawks forward Alex Adams made the game interesting with a shorthanded goal 28 seconds into the final frame. Dylan Malmquist got a power-play goal 2 minutes later, and the rest was Edina playing its own game.

Ben Copeland, Malmquist and Casey Dornbach rounded out the Hornets’ scoring in the third period, respectively, and Edina closed out its finals week with a win. Edina enjoyed a 37-17 shots-on-goal advantage, and the Malmquist-Mismash duo accounted for three points apiece. 

The shots eventually came for Edina, and the Hornets held an advantage in penalty minutes, but Malmquist said the X-factor for this squad is when he and his undersized team play up to the girth of their opponents. 

“We played a lot more physical after the first period, and that’s a big part of our game,” the senior captain said. “We can get in other people’s heads because we’re not seen as a physical team. If we can do that, we can start moving the puck and getting chances.” 

First Report

Edina looked well-coached, overcoming an early two-goal deficit to pull away in a 8-3 win over Grand Rapids in the Edina Holiday Classic at Braemar Ice Arena on Thursday.

Playing in front of a meager crowd and crippled student section caused by finals week at Edina High School, the Hornets, ranked No. 2 in the Class 2A coaches poll, trailed 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Connor LaRoque and Brendan Mark scored back-to-back goals for the Thunderhawks, No. 10-2A, in the first, as Grand Rapids took advantage of a then-nonexistent Edina defense and peppered Hornets goalie Kobi Boe. 

Edina turned its play around quickly in the second period. Bram Scheerer’s goal cut Grand Rapids' lead in half. Parker Mismash then took a pass in the slot from Casey Dornbach and scored to tie the game 2-2 with less than 6 minutes to play.

Goals by Sam Fuss and Matt Masterman made it 4-2 and put the Thunderhawks in a deep hole. Grand Rapids defenseman Drake Anderson was assessed two penalties at the end of the second period, giving Edina a 4-minute power play to start the final frame. 

Alex Adams recorded a shorthanded goal 28 seconds into the third period to bring Grand Rapids within one, but Edina got a power-play goal from Dylan Malmquist 2 minutes later and never looked back. 

Ben Copeland, Malmquist and Dornbach each hammered in a goal in the third for Edina.

The Hornets outshot the Thunderhawks 37-19 in the game.

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