By James Brohm
Sioux Lookout, ON – Saturday night was 90s night in Sioux Lookout. 424 hockey fans at the Hangar enjoyed some throwback music and were treated to an entertaining game on the ice as well.
As expected from the top two teams in the league, the first period was end to end action. Both teams were aggressive, offensively and defensively. Owen Riffel tapped in a centring pass from Blake Burke on the power play at 8:05 for the game’s first goal. It was Riffel’s 50th point of the campaign and league leading 28th goal so far this year. The Walleye tied the game up at 1-1 with a goal from Brydon Bell, assisted by Nickolas Fagnilli. His quick wrist shot at 10:50 into the frame beat Bombers’ netminder Jack Osmond high on the glove side, hit the back bar of the net and bounced right out just as quickly. The teams retired to their dressing rooms tied 1-1.
The second period was much of the same from both teams. The only penalties called in the frame were a couple of offsetting minors at 17:49. And the only goal scored came late in the period at 18:40. Owen Cotter was in the slot and made a perfect tip on a Josh Greene point shot that beat Ashton Sadauskas to retake the lead for the Bombers.
The Fighting Walleye kept up the pressure in the third period. They were rewarded for their hard work on the power play at 8:24. Ryan Daponte took a pass in the high slot from Jeremy Dunmore and his one timer found the 5-hole on Osmond to knot the game 2-2. Liam Bell got the go ahead goal for the Walleye at 12:27 and they took the lead for the first time in the hockey game. He launched a rolling puck just under the crossbar. The Bombers did not give up and really cranked up the intensity for the remainder of the game but Ashton Sadauskas was able to shut the door and the Fighting Walleye held on for a 3-2 victory.
Jack Osmond made 34 saves for the Bombers, Sadauskas was slightly busier but made 40 saves for the win. The game’s third star was Owen Cotter with one goal on the night. The second star was Ashton Sadauskas who was solid all night and made a lights out, point blank save on Blake Burke in the second period. Liam Bell was the game’s first star for his knuckle puck, one-timer game winning goal.
Sioux Lookout will make a mid-week trip to Red Lake to face off against the Miners on February 13th. Kam River is back in action on Family Day, hosting Thunder Bay for an afternoon game on February 19th.