THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – Michael Johnson had an early goal and went on to add a pair of assists to help lead the Thief River Falls Norskies to a 6-2 victory over the Fort Frances Lakers Friday evening in a Superior International Junior Hockey League match-up at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Johnson started things off for Thief River Falls quickly as he notched his ninth marker of the season 40 seconds into the contest.
Alec Daman then put the Norskies up by two just over five minutes later.
Fort Frances got one back midway through the first thanks to Adam Withers who extended a point streak to five in the process.
After Cody Aarvig put the home side up 3-1 at 14:24, Withers countered for the Lakers 24 seconds later to add his second of the period and seventh overall.
Moving on to the middle stanza, Thief River Falls went back up by a pair as Connor Bowey connected during a man advantage at 5:52 before teammate Aslan Akervik added to the lead at even strength 11 minutes after that.
Parker Simonson then rounded out the scoring for the Norskies in the final frame with his 32nd marker of the year.
Jared Pedersen chipped in with two assists for Thief River Falls in the win.
Jackson Nelson made 29 saves to record the decision for the Norskies while Brett Akins faced 26 shots in a losing cause for Fort Frances.
Photo credit: Allison Garrigan