By Gary Moskalyk
Thunder Bay 4 @ Sioux Lookout 6, Wed Nov 30
The Sioux Lookout Bombers scored three in the third period to defeat the red hot Thunder Bay North Stars 6-4. Newly acquired Nathan Dann notched the game-winner at 8:12 of the third and Nolan Palmer scored his second of the game into an empty net to up the Bomber record to 12-7-0.
Jake Manners stopped 37 shots for his 10th win.
Noah Broughton scored at 4:11 of the third to give the Stars a 4-3 lead. Kalin Roy tied it up four minutes later. Dann scored in his first game with the Bombers on assists from Ty Bahm and Ty Lone, and secured first star status for his efforts.
Palmer scored unassisted with 49 seconds left to ice it.
It was Thunder Bay’s first regulation loss in seven games.
Colby Feist opened the scoring in the first period for Thunder Bay, his sixth tally in six games. Conner Burke and Owen Riffel put the Bombers up 2-1 through 20 minutes. Dylan Bertrand tied it up in the second, Palmer scored unassisted 29 seconds later and Dimitri Trahiotis of Thunder Bay clicked on a power play to knot the score at three.
The Bombers outscored Thunder Bay 3-1 in the third.
The Stars were 1-5 on the power play while Sioux Lookout was shut down in three chances. Conner Lemieux was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:27 to go.
Lemieux handled 34 of 39 shots in a losing effort.
Sioux Lookout traveled to Dryden for a weekend pair and Thunder Bay entertained the first place Fighting Walleye on Friday and Saturday.
Kam River 7 @ Thunder Bay 3 Fri, Kam River 2 @ Thunder Bay 1 (SO), Sat
The Fighting Walleye scored seven goals over the final two periods to win their 18th game of the season. Ethan Lang and Carson Gorst fired a pair each, Ryan Doucette and Jack Cook contributed a goal and two assists and Eric Vanska won his league-leading 13th of the year, thwarting 42 of 45 shots.
The cross-town rivalry attracted 1,823 fans.
The North Stars held a 20-14 shot advantage and Easton Glousher gave them a 1-0 lead through the first frame.
Lang scored two and Cook sandwiched in his sixth of the year as the Walleye were up 3-1 by the middle of the second, and had evened up the shot clock, too. Thunder Bay’s Jake Parker tallied to pull the Stars to within one.
Doucette scored on a Kam River power play, and Gorst scored 89 seconds later for a 5-2 Walleye lead, chasing North Star goaltender Conner Lemieux. Gorst’s second of the game made it 6-2 at 11:30. Edison Weeks and Braeden Duchesne exchanged markers to finish it off.
Kam River was 1-4 with the man advantage while Thunder Bay’s potent power play was 0-6.
Jeremy Dunmore and Kyle Lamoureux picked up two assists each for Kam, and Parker added an assist for Thunder Bay, giving him 10 points in six games.
The game featured 92 shots. Lemieux was good on 31 of 36, while Keenan Marks came in for 15:26 and handled nine of 11.
On Saturday Eric Vanska and Keenan Marks put on goaltending clinics and Ryan Doucette scored the lone goal in a five round shootout as the visiting Walleye defeated the North Stars 2-1 at Fort William Gardens. A crowd of 1,923 watched a classic.
Vanska turned aside 46 of 47 for his 14th win of the season. Marks suffered his first loss of the year, handling 41 of 42.
After a scoreless first Jonah DesRosiers notched his second of the season from the top of the right circle for a 1-0 North Star lead.
Anthony Oviedo replied for the Walleye at 6:21 of the third. Jack Cook’s point shot was stopped by Marks, but Oviedo corralled the rebound and sent it home from the doorstep.
Thunder Bay failed to click on a late third period power play sending the game into overtime.
Doucette had a clear-cut breakaway in extra time but Marks thwarted the chance.
Jamie Fuchs, Nolan Desjardins, Edison Weeks, Dimitri Trahiotis and Jake Parker were all stopped by Vanska. Trahiotis rang one off the right post.
Max Leduc, Jeremy Dunmore, Jack Cook, and Euan Morrison were thwarted by Marks. Doucette scored from 12-feet out from the slot, beating Marks glove-side for the winner.
Parker had the last shot. Vanska made a pad save to send the Walleye to their 19th win of the season.
Fort Frances 0 @ Wisconsin 9 Fri, Fort Frances 2 @ Wisconsin 5 Sat
Two streaks bit the dust in Friday’s game: Fort Frances’ three-game winning streak and Wisconsin’s 11-game winless funk. Both ended in an emphatic fashion and Ryder McMillen, Zach Carson and Connor McClure had a lot to do with it.
Carson had a hat trick and one assist, McMillen had a goal and four helpers and McClure picked up a pair of goals and two apples. The Lumberjacks scored six in the first to put it away.
Kyler Lowden shunted aside 24 shots for his first shutout of the season.
Brenden Stroble absorbed the first period punishment, stopping 11 of 17. Ryan Tanner played the last 40 minutes, turning aside 25 of 28.
Axel Wyatt, Zach Johnson and Dillon Phillips also connected for Wisconsin who hadn’t won a game since October 28.
Phillips also had two assists, and Sal Poggiali had two assists as well.
A physical affair, Wisconsin capitalized on four of five power play chances while Fort was 0-2.
Attendance was 250.
Things tightened up in Saturday’s contest. Ryder McMillen collected two points, Connor McClure had a goal and a helper and Dylan Jouppi two assists to power a 5-2 victory for Wisconsin.
After a scoreless first Wisconsin pumped in three in the second, including Ryder McMillen’s 15th of the year on the power play with five seconds left in the period.
Zach Johnson gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead. Eli Neilsen tied it up. Connor McClure re-established a 2-1 Lumberjack edge. McMillen’s wrister blocker side beat Laker goalie Ryan Tanner for the 3-1 lead.
Zach Carson scored at 30 seconds of the third for a three-goal Wisconsin margin. Dylan Wedward for Fort, and Dylan Olsen for Wisconsin rounded out the scoring.
Kyler Lowden collected win number six with a 21-save performance. Tanner faced 49 shots.
After a fairly quiet first, the seats in penalty boxes got a little warm. Fort Frances took 45 penalty minutes. Wisconsin had 21. The ‘Jacks were 2-7 with the man advantage. Wedward had the lone Fort Frances PP marker in four chances.
Attendance was 303.
Sioux Lookout 1 @ 4 Dryden 4 Fri, Sioux Lookout 1 @ Dryden 2 Sat
Dryden struck for three goals in the final 10 minutes to put away the Bombers 4-1 in Friday’s tilt.
Tyler Earl opened the scoring at 8:13 of the second for Dryden, on assists from Max Roby and Easton Debray.
Ty Bahm tied it up with a power play marker at 4:13 of the third. James Hooton and Landen Stromme struck for Dryden with power play markers, and Bryce Benfield made it 4-1 with his 8th to polish off the scoring.
Dryden outshot Sioux Lookout by period totals of four, eight and seven and held a 38-19 shot advantage overall. Clark recorded his sixth win of the year.
Jake Manners stopped 34 of 38 in the Bomber cage.
Sioux Lookout was 1-4 on the PP while Dryden was 2-6.
Stromme added a helper and Max Roby had two assists. Roby has seven goals and six assists in eight games.
Only 11 minor penalties were called. Attendance was 382.
Tyler Earl scored the game-winner on Saturday, as the home town Ice Dogs recorded a sweep with a 2-1 victory. While a classic was playing out in Thunder Bay, the Bomber-Ice Dogs match was a beauty as well.
Nolan Palmer’s wrist shot from the point beat Dryden starter Eric Clark at 6:16 of the first on a Sioux Lookout power play for a 1-0 Bomber lead.
Bryce Benfield knotted the score at 15:58 of the frame, pouncing on a rebound for his ninth tally of the year.
After a scoreless second Earl scored in his second straight game, ripping a wrister past Jack Manners glove side for the margin of victory.
Sioux Lookout was able to pull Manners for an extra man but a staunch Dryden defence squelched any good scoring chances.
The win slots Dryden into third place with games in hand on the four teams within three points of each other. The Ice Dogs have six games in hand on second place Red Lake and trail the Miners by two.
Eric Clark handled 23 of 24 shots for his seventh win. Manners stopped 32 of 34.
Andrew Bartlett and Travis Batters me handed out 56 penalty minutes. Dryden garnered 39 of them. Sioux Lookout was 1-9 on the power play. Dryden went 0-4.
A robust 473 fans were there.