By Gary Moskalyk
Kam River 3 at Dryden 5 Wednesday
Bryce Benfield scored three goals and Michael O’Sullivan made 42 saves, many of them exceptional especially in the third period, as the Ice Dogs defeated Kam River 5-3 in Dryden.
Dryden struck for two late first period goals to open up a 2-0 lead heading into period two. Benfield got his first unassisted at 19:14, beating Travis VanderZwaag high glove side for his 4th of the year. Max Roby connected from the high slot 33 seconds later. Roby has 10 goals on the year, one behind Owen Riffel of Sioux Lookout for the league lead.
Kam River outshot Dryden in every period. In the second period they pelted O’Sullivan with 21 shots and connected on two of them. Carter Poddubny’s backhander glove side got Kam River on the board. Benfield’s second of the game on a Dryden powerplay restored the two-goal cushion at 14:24. Ryan Doucette cashed in on a rebound to put the Walleye a goal back at 3-2.
Benfield completed his hat trick 23 seconds into period three, whacking home a fluttering puck for a 4-2 lead. Benfield now has six goals with three assists in just five games.
Kam River elected to pull VanderZwaag with about four minutes left with Dryden down a man. Dryden’s Carson Devine scored from his zone into an empty net to make it 5-2. Jett Mintenko scored at 17:17 on the same Walleye power play to tighten the score to 5-3. Mintenko has eight on the year. That was the final verdict.
The Dogs are three points up on Sioux Lookout for first place with the Bombers having two games in hand. Kam River fell to 6-2-0 on the season.
Devine and Roby had two point games for Dryden. Mintenko also had an assist and Daxton Lang had two helpers for Kam River.
O’Sullivan upped his record to 4-0-0 on the season. VanderZwaag suffered his first loss, stopping 23 of 27.
Kam River took five minors to Dryden’s nine. Dryden was 2-5 on the powerplay. Kam was 1-8. A crowd of 213 was in attendance.
Dryden 1 at Sioux Lookout 5 Friday
Sioux Lookout took a 5-1 decision on Friday night in a showdown of SIJHL heavyweights. Rifleman Owen Riffel was at it again, opening the scoring at 1:26 of the first on a Sioux Lookout powerplay. Connor Burke won the draw and three seconds into the man advantage Riffel fired in 12th of the year. He would add an insurance marker at 12:33 of the third giving the Bombers a 4-1 edge at the time.
Jack Osmond stopped 35 of 36 for his 4th win of the year, lowering his GAA to 1.89 and raising his SV% to .947. He was named first star.
Jonah Smith made it 2-0 Sioux Lookout at 0:58 of the second frame. Smith sniped home his 5th of the season from a tough angle, beating Michael O’Sullivan high.
Geoff Bjarnason got Dryden on the board at 14:24 of the second stanza. Bjarnason’s power play point shot narrowed the Bomber lead to one. Kaden Veller gained the zone, Ty Lone tipped his shot, and Mitchell Daines was there to bury the rebound at 16:30 as Sioux Lookout restored their two-goal lead.
The Bombers added two in the third to put their win to bed. Riffel made it 4-1 and Cedrik Robidoux scored with a man advantage at 17:29 to render the final 5-1 verdict.
Daines was awarded a shorthanded penalty shot with five seconds left. O’Sullivan stymied the attempt with a pad save.
Dryden took eight minors to Sioux Lookout’s five. The Bombers were 3-8 on the PP, Dryden 1-5.
Veller, Connor Burke and Ty Lone all had two assists for Sioux Lookout.
Attendance was 516.
Sioux Lookout 4 at Dryden 1 Saturday
The Bombers swept the Ice Dogs over the weekend to regain their hold on first place in the SIJHL. Jack Osmond stopped 49 of 50 and Sioux Lookout scored four powerplay goals to defeat Dryden 4-1 with 607 fans in attendance. The Bombers still have not lost in regulation play, going 9-0-1 in their first 10 games.
Sioux Lookout has the league’s best powerplay at 33.3%, and penalty kill at 92.2%.
Connor Burke’s wrister on a 5-on-3 got the Bombers pointed in the right direction at 6:39 of the first. Ty Lone and Owen Cotter scored 21 seconds apart in the latter part of the second frame to make it 3-0. Lone’s chipped one over Michael O’Sullivan at 16:50 for his second of the year. Cotter tipped Kaden Veller’s point shot for his third of the campaign.
Sean Smith notched his 5th of the year unassisted to get the Ice Dogs on the board at 8:20 of the third. Kaden Veller walked in from the blue-line and went top shelf on O’Sullivan at 17:09 for his first of the year to make it final at 4-1.
The Bombers lost leading scorer Owen Riffel to injury part way through the game. Alex Lucas garnered three assists, Veller had a goal and assist, and captain Nolan Palmer had two helpers to cover the loss.
The Bomber’s powerplay was 4-8 while Dryden’s was 0-5. The Bombers took 30 of the 59 penalty minutes doled out.
Osmond is 5-0-1 with 1.83 GAA and .948 SV%. O’Sullivan handled 27 of 31 shots, dropping his record to 4-2-0.
Fort Frances 2 at Thunder Bay 6 Friday
The Lakers took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Thunder Bay poured in the last five, including four unanswered in the third, to defeat the Lakers 6-2.
Clark Scaddan collected a rebound and beat Ethan Barron just 15 seconds into the contest as the Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Easton Mikus set up EJ Paddington’s 6th goal of the year at 6:24 to tie the contest. Evan Kabel’s good ol’ country slap shot at 6:44 of the second on a Lakers’ powerplay put the visitors up 2-1. Just 1:18 later Owen Doherty’s wrap-around on a misplayed North Stars’ shot knotted the score at 2-all.
Thunder Bay scored four in third to take the win. Connor O’Brien’s point shot eluded Gunner Paradis to start the parade. Easton Mikus scored two goals 46 seconds apart starting at 13:20 of the third. Mikus whacked in his own rebound and then connected again from in close for his 9th of the season. Cohen Tangedahl got his first as a North Star, one-timing one from the slot 30 seconds after Mikus scored.
Barron stopped 27 of 29 for his second win of the year. Paradis faced 43 shots, stopping 37 in his SIJHL debut, earning third star status in the process.
Mikus added an assist for a three-point night. Paddington had two apples for three points. O’Brien and Tangedahl had one assist each, and Jordan Tyler had two helpers to aid the Stars’ attack.
Ian Snooks and Brady Krentz collected two assists each for the struggling Lakers.
The Lakers took 46 of 68 penalty minutes. Thunder Bay was 0-7 with the man advantage. Fort was 1-9.
Attendance was 442.
Fort Frances 2 at Thunder Bay 5 Saturday
Tyler Jordan scored three and assisted on one and Keenan Marks made 31 stops as Thunder Bay won their fourth in a row with a 5-2 win over Fort Frances at FWG.
Jordan, acquired from the Steinbach Pistons of the MJHL on October 12, has been a huge plus for the Stars, scoring four goals in four games with three assists.
Clark Scaddan opened the scoring at 4:03 of the first beating Marks after a cross-ice feed from Brady Krentz. The same players got the Lakers on the board first on Friday.
Jordan stripped the puck deep in the Laker zone, circled the wagons, and wristed one past Jack Orchard for his first of the game at 16:52.
Connor O’Brien got his third of the year on a Stars’ power play at 9:13 of the second. Edison Weeks collected his 9th assist on the play.
The Stars scored three of the four goals scored in the third. Jordan accepted Cohen Tangedahl’s pass and fired in his second of the game just 16 seconds into the frame.
Krentz narrowed the margin to 3-2 with an unassisted powerplay effort at 6:36. Jordan got his hat trick goal at 13:13 unassisted, and Tangedahl added at 16:29 with Dimitri Trahiotis and Jordan collecting the helpers.
Marks improved to 3-2-0, with a 2.44 GAA and .928 SV%. Orchard made 30 saves for Fort Frances. The Lakers are winless in regulation through nine games.
Thunder Bay took six of 10 minor penalties.
A matinee crowd of 341 saw the game.
Red Lake 1 at Wisconsin 2 Friday
William Forrester stopped 46 of 47 as the hometown Lumberjacks eked out a 2-1 win before 243 fans at the Spooner Civic Centre.
A scoreless first was followed by two second period goals by Wisconsin. Dillon Phillips corralled a loose puck and went back door on Red Lake’s Ethan Neitsch at 2:10 on a Wisconsin powerplay. Ryan Kayser and Kaden Postal assisted on the effort. Maddox Achtor went high glove on Neitsch on a breakaway to double the lead. Xavier Tholl got his second assist on the play.
Matthew MacPherson’s first goal of the season–a tap-in off Gabe Tanton’s face off win at 8:04 of the third–made it 2-1. Forrester made 17 saves in the third as the Lumberjacks were able to kill off the clock to secure the ‘W’.
Forrester lowered his GAA to 3.41 and raised his SV% to .904 with his first-star performance. Neitsch continued his negotiations with the Hockey Gods to little avail. His goals against is 1.75, save percentage is .951, and yet he’s winless at 0-3-1 in his four games.
Wisconsin was 1-3 with the power play while Red Lake was 0-7. Only 10 minor penalties were whistled, with the Lumberjacks taking seven of them.
Red Lake 2 at Wisconsin 3 Saturday
Wisconsin scored three on the powerplay, a much needed boost in that department, to defeat the Miners 3-2 before 350 fans.
Landon von Engelen scored his first of the season from in tight to give Red Lake a 1-0 lead. Carson Shafor deflected Ryan Kayser’s shot to tie the game at 11:46 of the first period.
Wisconsin took a 2-1 lead in the second. Dillon Phillips went coast-to-coast and beat Noah Davis for his 3rd.
One minute into the third Nolan Fowler converted Ryan Kayser’s pass to give Wisconsin a two-goal edge. Matthew MacPherson narrowed the lead when he launched a one-timer past William Forrester at 8:13. Red Lake took a late penalty but still managed to pull Davis for an extra attacker, but to no avail.
Fowler added an assist for a two-point night. Kayser also had two points for Wisconsin.
Davis stopped 16 of 19 in the loss, while Forrester made 30 saves. The Miners took nine minor penalties to Wisconsin’s seven. Red Lake was 0-2 with the man advantage. Wisconsin was 3-6.
Red Lake 8 at Wisconsin 7 (OT) Sunday
Red Lake salvaged a win in their three-game set with Wisconsin. Nathan Dann scored on a Red Lake powerplay with 41 seconds gone in overtime for an 8-7 comeback victory. The Miners led the game once, at the end when it mattered the most.
Connor Corcoran’s point shot goal on a Wisconsin powerplay at 14:42 of the third gave the Lumberjacks a two-goal lead with 5:18 left. It wasn’t enough. Dann got his second goal of the game at 15:43 to make it 7-6. Landon van Engelen won the draw deep in the Wisconsin zone, intentionally sending to the end boards. He picked up his own rebound behind the net, and fed a wide open Dann.
Noah Tenney’s backhander beat Jakob Barcelona with 53 seconds left with the Red Lake net empty to tie it 7-all.
Wisconsin’s Zach Johnson took a penalty in overtime. Barcelona made a game-saving stop at the 32 second mark but Johnson impeded Bryson Carlyle on his grade A chance.
Dann got his game-winning hat trick goal nine seconds later, firing a wrist shot to the top shelf.
The game was tied 1-1 through 20, Wisconsin led 4-3 after two, and the teams exchanged seven goals in the wild and wooly third. Ethan Neitsch was pulled midway through the second after making eight saves on 12 shots for Red Lake. Noah Davis stopped 11 of 14 for the win. Barcelona faced 47 shots in the Wisconsin net, stopping 39.
Luke DeCorby for Red Lake and Kaden Postal for Wisconsin exchanged shorthanded goals. Corcoran and Dann scored the only powerplay goals.
Aiden Corbett had a goal and two helpers, Justin Gelderland had three assists, and von Engelen had a goal and assist. Ten Miners collected at least a point.
Kaden Postal and Collin Baker had two goals each for Wisconsin. Corcoran had two assists in addition to his goal in the third. Thirteen Lumberjacks had points.
Wisconsin had 24 penalty minutes to Red Lake’s 19.
Kam River 9 at Kenora 3 Friday
Carter Poddubny scored four powerplay goals and added an assist for good measure as the Fighting Walleye defeated Kenora 9-3. A total of seven goals were scored by the 10:45 mark of the first period. Kam River emerged with a 5-2 first period lead when the dust settled.
Here’s how it went: Kaden Goodwin, 1:27, KRW 1-0; Braden Swampy, 2:15, KEN, 1-1; Brydon Bell, 4:32, KRW, 2-1; Poddubny 6:05, KRW, 3-1; Riley Borody, 7:23, KRW, 4-1; Poddubny, 9:03, KRW, 5-1; John Paul Scaringi, 10:45, KEN, 5-2.
Aaron Bertschinger scored the lone second period marker, ripping home his 5th, as the Islanders made it 5-3.
The Walleye reeled in the win with four in the third. Liam Bell and Braeden Duchesne made it 7-3. Poddubny went blocker side for his hat trick goal at 16:30, and then went to Dave Keon (backhander from the slot) at 19:17, beating Matthew Stephens glove side.
After starting the season with one goal through his first seven games, the Thunder Bay native has six in his last two.
Ashton Sadauskas made 16 saves for his 5th win against a loss. Stephens was in for all nine, stopping 67 of 76 shots.
Kam River was 4-9 on the power play, courtesy of Poddubny, one of the few ’07 players in the league. Scaringi had the lone Kenora PP goal in six opportunities.
Brydon Bell added four assists for a five point night. Jett Mintenko had four assists, Edwin Liang three helpers, and Duchesne, Borody and Goodwin all added assists.
Scaringi had an assist in addition to his goal for Kenora.
The Islanders took 40 of 72 penalty minutes. Attendance was 500.
Kam River 7 at Kenora 2 Saturday
Kenora scored the first goal and the last one, but Kam River sandwiched in seven as the Walleye defeated the Islanders 7-2. Carter Poddubny scored two on the powerplay, giving him six consecutive goals with the man advantage. The Thunder Bay native now has eight goals in his last three games after a quiet start.
Braden Duchesne and Nicholas Fagnilli also had two goals each. Fagnilli also added an assist. Jeremy Dunmore had a goal and two helpers, and Liam Bell and Ryan Doucette had two assists to buoy the attack.
Brayden MacKay got the Islanders on the scoresheet at 2:11 of the first, picking up the loose change in Travis VanderZwaag’s crease for his second of the season. Braeden Duchesne’s far side wrister beat Matthew Stephens to even the score at 4:05.
Poddubny got his two powerplay markers in the first, going short side twice on Stephens.
Dunmore and Fagnilli on the powerplay, added second period goals to make it 5-1. Duchesne and Fagnilli made it 7-1 by 5:29 of the third. Fagnilli’s one-timer was his second powerplay goal of the game.
Aaron Bertschinger scored for Kenora unassisted at 8:16 to close out the scoring.
The Islanders took 33 penalty minutes to Kam’s four and paid the price. The Walleye scored four with the man advantage in nine opportunities. Kenora was 0-2 on the PP.