Staff
For the second-straight game, the Fort Frances Lakers surged out to a 2-0 first-period lead.
And for the second-straight time, they ended up taking a loss.
Fort Frances (6-19-4) held the lead for nearly 47 minutes of action here Tuesday night but still fell 3-2 in a shootout to the second-place Dryden Ice Dogs (23-4-4).
The loss was the Lakers’ sixth-straight—and second to Dryden in less than a week (they lost 7-4 in Dryden on Dec. 9).
Coach Wayne Strachan’s emphasis on protecting their own zone seemed to be setting in, despite allowing 39 shots, as the Lakers played a tighter game defensively than in Saturday night’s 8-5 loss to the K&A Wolverines (Thunder Bay).
Jameson Shortreed made 37 saves, and stopped three of the four Dryden shooters in the shootout.
Unfortunately, none of the four Laker shooters could beat Ice Dogs’ goalie Josh Baker.
The Lakers opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first period when Tyler Stevenson wired a blast past Baker, with Cody Hasbargen drawing the assist.
Just under seven minutes later, the Lakers doubled their lead when Colton Kennedy’s team-leading 21st goal bulged the twine.
Jordan Carne, who stands at 6’1”, made sure Baker caught no glimpse of Kennedy’s rocket, which came on the power play.
Tim Hennessey and Byron Katapaytuk notched the assists.
The Ice Dogs got on the scoreboard before the period was through, however, when leading scorer Kevin Burton snapped a rebound past Shortreed to cut the Lakers’ lead in half.
The goal came after 1:43 of Dryden power-play pressure on their only man advantage of the night.
After a scoreless second period, the visitors netted the equalizer midway through the third when Kyle Heck knocked his 20th of the season past Shortreed at 12:17.
The five-minute four-on-four overtime solved nothing, so the game went to a shootout.
Shortreed turned aside the first three Dryden attempts, made by Ben McClellan, BJ McLellan, and Heck. Similarly, Cody Edwards, Kennedy, and Stevenson all failed to score.
Burton was Dryden’s fourth shooter. He sped up the left wing and whistled a shot past Shortreed—putting the game on the line for Justin Erhart.
But he was turned away by Baker, giving the Ice Dogs the comeback victory.
The loss comes as the Lakers issued a second press release in the last month regarding the team’s status.
It noted the board of directors is managing the day-to-day operations of the team in a “spirit of success and optimism.”
“Bills are still being paid and the sponsorship drive is still alive,” it added.
However, the release admitted running the community-based squad is all the more challenging given the “short window of opportunity” available to the board to revive a Junior ‘A’ franchise here in the wake of the Jr. Sabres’ demise over the summer.
The release also called for hockey fans to be patient and keep attending games while management tinkers with the lineup to ice a winning team.
It noted two meetings between the Lakers’ board of directors, fan club, parents, and billets have been held to discuss how to move the franchise forward.
While the team has received some greatly-appreciated sponsorship help in the form of funding, the board said more is needed.
“The concept of a community-based team needs community support at all levels,” it stressed.
