By Fighting Walleye Staff
Oliver Paipoonge, ON – A jam-packed NorWest Arena crowd witnessed another spectacular matchup between Kam River and Thunder Bay at a special Family Day matinee. The Fighting Walleye squeaked out a close 5-3 victory, finishing the regular season series with a 5-1-1 record against their arch-rivals from across town.
The Stars’ Alex Remenda opened the scoring near the midway point of the 1st period to stake the visitors to a 1-0 lead. It was the Thunder Bay products’ 7th goal for the North Stars since being acquired from the Soo Thunderbirds of the NOJHL near the January CJHL trade deadline.
The Walleye responded with less than 5 minutes remaining in the 1st, when Evan Lachemia banged home a loose puck off a lively end-boards bounce, and the game was tied up at 1.
Veteran defenceman Jacob Sargent scored on a low point shot to give Kam River its first lead of the afternoon, with 5 minutes left in the 2nd, only to see Remenda pot another goal for the Stars just seconds later. The teams headed to the 2nd intermission deadlocked at 2 apiece.
EJ Paddington scored for the visitors early in the 3rd, his centering pass bouncing off a Walleye defender and behind Ashton Sadauskas, to make the score 3-2 Thunder Bay. Just over a minute later, the Walleye’s Riley Borody took a shot from the blue line that deflected off a body in front and eluded North Stars goaltender Keenan Marks. Borody’s 14th tally of the season knotted the game at 3. Then, 4 minutes later, Ryan Doucette scored what would turn out to be the game-winner, converting a pass from Lachimea, who had made a great second effort on the puck after being knocked to the ice. It was Doucette’s 3rd game winning goal of the season. Jeremy Dunmore scored into an empty net to seal the win with 5 seconds remaining.
Ashton Sadauskas was great between the pipes for Kam River, stopping 43 of 46 for his league-leading 23rd win of the season.
The Fighting Walleye host the Fort Frances Lakers for a two-game series this coming weekend at NorWest Arena, while The North Stars head to Red Lake for Friday and Saturday games against the Miners.
G & G Excavating 3 Stars
3rd – Liam Bell KRW
2nd – Alex Remenda TBN
1st – Ryan Doucette KRW