Lucas Punkari
After seeing their seven-game winning streak came to a screeching halt at the hands of the host Wisconsin Wilderness on Saturday night, the Fort Frances Lakers wasted little time in starting what they hope is another lengthy run.
Although the game may not have been a complete work of art, the Lakers earned a 5-4 victory Sunday night in Duluth versus the Clydesdales to remain within striking distance of the SIJHL-leading Wilderness.
After falling behind 2-1 in the first, the Lakers and Clydesdales played a back-and-forth game the rest of the way, with Jordan Larson scoring the game-winner with two minutes left in regulation time.
“I wasn’t happy at all with our first period as we took some bad penalties and they scored on the power play twice,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“In the second, I thought we started to roll a bit and we started to take over the momentum of the game by playing closer to our style and pressuring for turnovers, and we ended up scoring three goals.
“I wasn’t pleased with the goal that Duluth scored in the third to tie it up,” added Strachan. “But [goalie] Tanner [Hamilton] rebounded and made the saves we needed him to and that helped us stay in the game.
“Then it was a shift of hard work late in the period, where we battled and we went to the net in order to win the game.”
Leading the Lakers offensively on Sunday were Steve Terry and Byron Katapaytuk, who both scored a pair of goals, with the latter also notching an assist.
“Steve has been one of our steadiest players throughout the last month as he has settled in here and is proving his worth for us on the back end,” Strachan said of Terry, who was acquired from Wisconsin in a trade in early December.
“He has been given a bit more of a chance with us offensively, and he is taking advantage of it nicely as both his goals on Sunday were nice ones that came short-handed and on the power play.
“I thought Byron was our steadiest player in this game as he had many shifts that he controlled the tempo on,” Strachan added.
“He made some nice plays to create offence, and he was definitely into the game and working hard to help the team.”
Larson’s game-winner not only was a big one for his team but also for himself in the SIJHL scoring race. The rookie forward leads Katapaytuk by only a single point (57-56) for top spot.
“Jordan has been battling a cold and an awful cough for a while now [but] he has shown up every day to work hard and fight through this issue,” Strachan lauded.
“He had a few chances earlier on in the game where he had been snake-bitten,” Strachan added.
“But at the end, he came on from a change while [Merritt] Rysavy and [Colton] Spicer were cycling the puck, and he just went hard to the net and picked up a rebound that he buried for the game-winner.”
Sunday’s win was a huge bounce-back for the Lakers (27-9-4) following a tough 2-0 loss to the Wilderness the previous night, when the defending SIJHL champs came away with their 16th-straight victory.
“The game was very exciting for two periods as it was two very good teams playing some good hockey,” Strachan recalled.
“In the first period, I thought we had the upper hand and I thought we edged them in chances.
“And even though in the second they probably carried the play a bit more than us, it was still a good period,” he added.
The Wilderness finally broke through in the third when Jordan Shockley netted a power-play goal with just under six-and-a-half minutes to go.
Shane Topf then added an empty-netter in the final seconds to secure the victory.
“In the third, we played a lot with guys in the penalty box, and without getting myself in trouble I thought the game was called one-sided,” Strachan remarked.
“It was a 0-0 game and both teams were playing hard throughout, and the flow was taken right out of it with the penalties being called,” he lamented.
“They [Wisconsin] had some good opportunities on the power play, and when they get that many opportunities with their skill, they will eventually get one by you,” Strachan reasoned.
“Overall, it was very disappointing and very frustrating, to say the least, that the game ended the way it did,” he sighed.
That frustration also was visible among the Lakers’ players after the game as they saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end.
“I was not very happy with our composure and class at times during the third period and after the game,” Strachan admitted.
“But I watched the same game that the players did and I was as frustrated as they were.
“A positive, though, that we could take out of this was that we know that we can play with that team when we are on our game, and we will have a few more opportunities this year to prove that before the playoffs,” he stressed.
Another positive in Saturday’s loss was the play of Lakers’ goalie Tyler Ampe, who turned aside 39 shots in a duel with Wilderness netminder Tanner Milliron.
“I thought that this may have been Tyler’s best game of the year as he was focused, prepared, and wanted to win, and he made two cross-crease saves on Saturday that were unbelievable,” Strachan said.
“After the game, he was very vocal in the dressing room with a few things that the team needed to hear, and it was good to see him step up as a leader both on and off the ice.”
Roster changes
Prior to last weekend’s road swing, Strachan also made a few changes to the team’s roster by the CJHL trade deadline last Tuesday (Jan. 10).
While no players were brought in, the club released Mike Jourdain outright and made Alex Bruess and Jamie Kaun affiliated players.
The squad also added Josh Scott and Brett McMahon to the active roster.
“The trade deadline day was a long day for [assistant general manager] Grant Perreault and I,” Strachan admitted.
“We tried many different things with different teams and leagues, but in the end no one in our league wanted to move players or couldn’t move players,” he noted.
“And the cost of players from outside leagues was too rich for our budget and we were not willing to give up the players that we may have had to give up.
“We are looking to add a defenceman or two, along with a forward, before the Feb. 10 roster freeze and we are in communications with some players right now to fill those roles,” Strachan said.
The Lakers, meanwhile, will continue to be road warriors this week.
The third game of their current six-game trip goes tonight in Dryden against the Ice Dogs, who sit tied with the Thunder Bay North Stars for third place in the SIJHL.
“We will have to go up there and play with some intensity,” Strachan warned.
“That will be a big bounce-back game for us, as well, as they have won the last couple of games against us, which I feel we handed to them as a result of our own play,” he added.
Following that game, the red-and-white will head back down to Duluth to participate in the SIJHL’s annual “showcase” weekend.
The Lakers will take part in two games there, facing the North Stars on Saturday morning before clashing with the host Clydesdales on Sunday night.
“The Saturday morning game at 11 a.m. will definitely be a test for us as there are not a lot of times that you play that early in the day in junior hockey,” Strachan noted.
“One good thing out of this, though, is that we skate early every morning for our practices, so hopefully that will give us an edge in the preparation factor.
“We will have to obviously play our best to have a chance at having success in both games,” Strachan added.
“But if we can’t get up for these games that count for points, and for being able to play in front of scouts from NCAA D-1 and D-3 schools, then we don’t have that competitive hunger that we need,” he stressed.
“However, if how we have played in the last three weeks is any indication, we should give ourselves a chance to play well in Duluth against both teams,” he reasoned.
