Central knocks off East Grand Forks to set up Gambucci Cup showdown with Red River

With the win, Central prevented the Green Wave from claiming the Gambucci Cup. In doing so, the Cup will now go to the Saturday afternoon winner between the Knights and Grand Forks Red River.

"That's a huge game for us on Saturday," Central coach Grant Paranica said. "The Gambucci Cup is on the line and so is first place in the EDC."

The Knights improved to 14-1-2 and exacted revenge on the Wave, who were the only team to beat Central this year, snapping a 37-game unbeaten streak. East Grand Forks won 5-1 earlier in the season.

"The last time we played, their coach said they got outworked and it was the exact opposite here," EGF coach Scott Koberinski said. "We were outmuscled and made soft plays all over the ice.

"For them, around our net, it was really easy. To get to their net, it was hard. That's a sign of a hungry team. We weren't as hungry."

The Knights started the scoring midway through the first period when Zack Murphy won a race to a puck in the Central zone and was able to bat it over in front to William Lawson-Body, who scored all alone on EGF goalie Carter Krier.

Central bumped the lead to 2-0 on a physical play by Lucas Kanta, who fought through an EGF defender to get to a loose rebound.

After a scoreless second period, the Knights put the game away with a Cole Hanson goal at 14:37 of the third.

Kanta put on the finishing touches with a goal with 12 seconds remaining.

Neither team had a ton of scoring chances with shots finishing 24-19 in favor of the Knights, who took advantage of their opportunities.

"Our effort was good," Paranica said. "Overall it wasn't a very good game. There was strong defensive play, and we capitalized on the few chances we got."

The Wave, who were playing without key regulars Tanner Mack, Landon Parker and Justin Kallock, dropped to 11-8-1.

"We have five games left in the year and the next two are section games," Koberinski said. "Hopefully, we can regroup and get a couple of guys back and play a lot better. We don't have the intensity you need at this time of the year."