By Gary Moskalyk
Fort Frances 1 @ Kam River 3, Wed Nov 16
Brenden Stroble turned aside 58 shots in a losing cause as Kam River defeated Fort Frances 3-1 at Norwest Arena.
Jack Orchard was sharp in the Walleye net, turning aside 25 of 26 for his 5th win of the season.
Kam River fired 22, 17, and 22 shots over three periods, but Stroble kept Fort Frances in the game until the end.
Brydon Bell collected his first goal as a Walleye in his fourth game at 7:24 of the first. Jeremy Dunmore sniped his 7th from a tough angle for a 2-0 lead early in the second frame. Conner O’Brien cashed his first tally of the year to draw the Lakers close. Ryan Doucette’s 4th late in the second ended the scoring. Dunmore also picked up an assist for 16 points on the year. Ethan Lange collected his 15th helper and 19th point on Dunmore’s goal.
The Walleye pinned the Lakers in their own zone as Stroble was unable to leave the net for an extra attacker late in the third.
The Lakers were 0-3 on the power play while Kam River was blanked in their only chance.
The game attracted 307 fans.
Sioux Lookout 4 @ Red Lake 2, Wed Nov 16
Ty Bahm scored midway through the third and Ty Lone added a short-handed unassisted empty-netter with 1:03 to go to give the visiting Bombers a 4-2 win over Red Lake.
Sioux Lookout never trailed in the game. Blake Burke opened the scoring at 16:57 of the first. Jacob Lamoureux potted his 17th on the power play at 19:19 to even the score for Red Lake. Owen Riffle and Kyle Schechtel traded markers in the second.
Sioux Lookout survived a penalty a late third period penalty. Lone’s goal sent losing goalie Jack Osmond back into the net after only eight seconds of a Red Lake 6-on-4.
Jack Manners garnered is 7th win stopping 19 of 21. Osmond had a busy night, facing 40 shots.
Sioux Lookout was 0-3 on the power play. Red Lake was 1-3.
Wisconsin 0 @ Kam River 5, Wisconsin 4 @ Kam River 5 (SO), Fri/Sat Nov 18/19
Eric Vanska recorded his second shutout and 10th win of the season as the Fighting Walleye handed Wisconsin its worst loss of the season, 5-0, before a crowd of 450. Kam River is on a five-game winning streak while the Lumberjacks are winless in nine.
Vanska turned aside 38 shots. And there was more good news for the Walleye.
The 3-D club, Jeremy Dunmore, Ryan Doucette and Braeden Duchesne all scored on the powerplay. Anthony Oviedo added a shorthanded unassisted marker as the special teams metrics got a boost. Carson Gorst opened the scoring at 17:12 of the first, the only 5-on-5 goal of the game.
Brydon Bell and Ethan Lang garnered two assists each and Dunmore picked up a helper for 18 points on the year.
Vern Ray won as interim head coach as new hire Geoff Walker awaited league approval to coach.
Kyler Lowden took the loss net for Wisconsin, handling 43 of 48. Keegan Strong came on in relief with six minutes to go. Wisconsin outshot Kam River 16-13 in a penalty-filled third.
Wisconsin picked up 41 penalty minutes, while the Walleye had 37. The Lumberjacks were scoreless on six powerplays. Kam River went 3-9.
The Walleye drew 753 fans to Saturday’s game. It was Pink Night at Norwest Arena, an event in support of breast cancer and the Linda Buchan Centre. Congratulations to the organization for their efforts on the cancer front.
The 753 in attendance were highly entertained. Jack Cook scored on Kam River’s third shot of the three-man shootout to give the Walleye a 5-4 win.
A couple of recurring themes were hovering in the rafters: Vanska and crew won another one-goal game, Wisconsin’s top guns were firing again, and the Heartbreak Kids from Spooner lost yet another one-goal game.
Salvatore Poggiali registered late in the first for a 1-0 Lumberjacks’ lead.
It was all Kam River in the second frame. The Walleye fired 24 shots at Keegan Strong and scored on three of them. Cook, Max Buffone and Euan Morrison–Cook and Morrison on the power play–put Kam River up 3-1.
Dillon Phillips notched his 8th to narrow the lead, Carson Gorst made it a two-goal margin, but leading scorer Ryder McMillen scored midway through, and Zach Carson notched his 12th at 18:30 to send the contest into overtime.
The Walleye killed off a minor penalty in the extra session and neither team scored, setting the stage for Cook’s heroics.
Morrison had two helpers for a three-point night. Ethan Lang added three apples for 20 on the year and 24 points overall. Gorst added an assist.
McMillen had two assists to increase his point haul to 39–12 more than second-place Carson who has 27. Connor McClure had three assists.
Vanska saved 31 of 35 for his 11th win.
Strong faced 50 shots in the Wisconsin net. Kam River was 2-5 on the power play while Wisconsin was 2-5.
Red Lake 5 @ Fort Frances 1, Red Lake 5 @ Fort Frances 2, Fri/Sat Nov 18/19
Dayvan Bull registered a second period hat trick, and Mason Mowat and Matthew MacPherson added solos in a five-goal middle frame uprising as Red Lake defeated Fort Frances 5-1.
Jack Osmond turned away 41 of 42 shots to win his 8th on the season. He leads the league in SV% at .932 and dropped his goals against to 2.50.
Red Lake dressed 13 skaters for the game. Clark Scaddan’s 7th of the year at 7:18 of the third snapped Osmond’s shutout bid. Brenden Stroble handled 40 of 45 in the Laker net.
Bull scored two of his goals with a man advantage. The Miners were 2-5 with a man up while Fort was 0-3.
Chippy play dominated the third frame as 13 separate infractions were called. The Lakers amassed 30 of the 46 penalty minutes.
Fort Frances drew 259 fans for the game.
Red Lake used a three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Fort Frances 5-2 on Saturday.
Jack Wood scored shorthanded at 19:39 of the first for A 1-0 Laker lead. Aiden Corbett and Dayvan Bull gave the Miners a brief 2-1 edge. Ten seconds later Brady Krentz tallied his first as a Laker to tied it up.
Mason Mowat, Kyle Schechtel and newly acquired Luc Decorby beat Ryan Tanner in the third frame to send the Lakers to their fifth straight loss.
Schechtel’s goal was an unassisted shorty, and Decorby’s and Bull’s goals were both on the power play.
Schechtel also had two assists, and Mowat, Bull and Corbett added assists for two-points.
Jack Osmond stopped 28 of 30, while Tanner made good on 37 of 42 shots.
Red Lake was 2-6 while up a man. The Lakers were 0-4.
Wisconsin 2 @ Thunder Bay 9, Sun Nov 20
The Thunder Bay North Stars used a five-goal first period and a four-goal third period to defeat the reeling Wisconsin Lumberjacks 9-2.
Wainwright, AB native Edison Weeks scored four goals and new acquisition Colby Feist assisted on all of them. Keenan Marks made 38 saves to secure his fourth win for Thunder Bay.
The Lumberjacks, playing their third game in three nights, matched the Stars 40 shots.
Jamie Fuchs and Weeks with a pair gave Thunder Bay a 3-0 lead by 11:23 of the first. Sal Poggiali notched his 13th to narrow the margin. Matt Halushak and EJ Paddington tacked on before Ryan Nutt registered his 2nd of the year on a power play to round out the first period scoring.
That was Wisconsin’s last goal.
After a scoreless second, Weeks rifled his hat trick goal at 1:40 of the third, adding his fourth at 7:41. Dylan Winsor and Nolan Desjardins ended the scoring and Lumberjacks’ goalie Kyler Lowden’s night at 9:29 of the third. Keegan Strong came on in relief and turned aside five.
Weeks now has 12 goals and 11 assists for 7th place in league scoring. Feist has nine points in just five games. Marks is 55 minutes away from qualifying as the SIJHL’s top netminder. His 1.96 GAA and .950 SV% would lead the SIJHL.
Thunder Bay picked up 38 of the 60 penalty minutes handed out.
Wisconsin was 1-7 on the power play while Thunder Bay was shut down in five chances.
The Gardens attracted 410 patrons, Thunder Bay’s first home crowd in 36 days.
The North Stars next game is on the road next Saturday against the always tough Dryden Ice Dogs. Wisconsin has a bye week. Their next tilt is a weekend series against Fort Frances in Spooner on December 2nd and 3rd.