Thunder win streak hits four

A short bench made for a long weekend for the visiting Thunder Bay KC Bulldogs.
With only 13 skaters at their disposal because of injuries, the Bulldogs (10-13-2-3) were swept by the Borderland Thunder (11-13-1- 1) by scores of 7-0 on Saturday night and 5-4 in overtime yesterday afternoon at the Ice for Kids Arena.
The Thunder’s four-game winning streak matches their season high. And were it not for giving up a 4-1 lead in the third period yesterday, Borderland would be in third place today.
As it stands, with the Bulldogs salvaging the point, Thunder Bay remains one ahead of the Thunder, although Borderland does hold two games in hand.
Dan Hoehne made 27 saves to earn the shutout Saturday night while Atikokan native Stephen MacLeod broke loose for a natural hat trick to spark the Thunder offence.
Dennis Morrison, Kevin Webb, David Gooch, and Justin Green had the other goals against Bulldogs’ goalie Josh Hand, who made 38 stops in defeat.
Victory also seemed well in hand for the Thunder yesterday, with goals by Spencer David, Ian Lockman, Clayton Windigo, and Green giving them a 4-1 lead four minutes into the third period.
But 11 seconds after Green’s goal, Ryan Minoletti cut the deficit to 4-2.
Then Ryan Bolduc fired home a pair of tallies only 28 seconds apart to square the contest and put the Thunder back on their heels.
The Thunder steadied themselves in time, though, and improved their overtime record to 2-1-1 when Rob Scales tipped in Kurt Hogard’s blast from the right point at 3:05 of the extra period to thrill the sparse crowd on hand for the team’s only Sunday game of the regular season.
The Thunder played Saturday night’s game without forward Ian Lockman (unknown), with Sean Councillor taking his place.
Lockman was back yesterday, but Borderland had to make do without forwards Aaron Boyer (ribs) and Eric Schultz (curfew violation) for the second game.
Captain Josh McAndrew (wrist) also sat out, and now has missed 18-straight games.
While it was hoped before the Christmas break that he may be able to return to action by next weekend, head coach Dave Allison said after yesterday’s game that the team would rather “err on the side of caution,” and didn’t expect McAndrew to play for at least two more weeks.
The Thunder will continue their quest for third place this Friday and Saturday night when they travel to Thunder Bay for a rematch with the Bulldogs.
Their next home games are slated Jan. 23-24 against the Fort William First Nation North Stars.