Lucas Punkari
With the cellar-dwelling Duluth Clydesdales’ franchise being revoked by the SIJHL last Tuesday, and the league-leading Minnesota Wilderness having all but clinched the top seed for the upcoming post-season, the race for second place has become even more important.
Right in the midst of that battle are the Fort Frances Lakers, who currently sit tied for third with the Thunder Bay North Stars heading into a road game tonight against the Dryden Ice Dogs.
“Any game is a big game right now, especially since we only play the Wilderness one more time during the regular season,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“There is about five points separating all of us and the way the playoffs are set up now [with Duluth leaving the league], the fourth- and fifth-place team will go against one another before taking on the Wilderness,” he explained.
“If we stick to our goal that we had at the start of the year, which is to finish as one of the top two teams in the regular season, that will give us a good place to start from in the playoffs,” Strachan added.
“But there is still a long road ahead of us to get there,” he stressed.
Following a 10-4 road win over the host North Stars on Friday night, and then a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Iron Rangers in Hoyt Lakes on Saturday, the Lakers (24-14-1-2) are tied for third with Thunder Bay with 51 points.
The Ice Dogs are two points ahead in second place, although the Lakers hold three games in hand.
Lurking in fifth place are the Iron Rangers, who are just three points back of the Lakers but have played five more games.
In Friday night’s game, the Lakers broke a 2-2 tie wide open in the second period, scoring six unanswered goals en route to the convincing victory.
“Even though we had a 2-1 lead early on, I didn’t think we were moving our feet or the puck like we were capable of in the first period,” Strachan recalled.
“After they [Thunder Bay] tied it up on the power play early in the second, it seemed like we just exploded on offence as we were making plays, getting the bounces, and capitalized on our chances.
“Over the last 40 minutes, we controlled the play and took it to them pretty good,” he added.
Leading the way was the top line of Jordan Christianson, Merritt Rysavy, and Colton Spicer, who factored in on seven of the team’s 10 goals.
Christianson had two goals and three assists while Spicer netted a pair and added two helpers.
Rysavy, the Lakers’ captain, had two goals of his own and assisted on another marker.
“When one of those guys is clicking, it seems like everyone on that line just starts clicking,” Strachan reasoned.
“I think everyone, though, put in an effort to contribute in some way on Friday as Kevin Kurm’s goal was a highlight-reel effort and Tyler Brodersen’s goal came out of a nice
give-and-goal play from out of the corner.”
Alex Bruess and Simon Desrosiers also found scored for the Lakers while recently-acquired goalie Talor Joseph made 19 saves to earn the win his first SIJHL start.
“I like what we saw from him in that game,” Strachan said. “It’s just one game, but he was very composed out there and he kept the game simple.
“He had good positioning and was big in the net, and we hope that he can keep that up coming down the stretch,” he added.
Then on Saturday night in Hoyt Lakes, the Lakers continued right where they had left off a night earlier as Davis Smith lit the lamp in the first period to give the visitors the lead.
But the Iron Rangers clawed their way back and moved out in front for good early in the third period.
“That game kind of reminded me of the very first game we played there at the start of the [season],” Strachan recalled.
“We had control of the game in the first period and we had many opportunities to go up by more than a goal.
“But the second period was a rough one for us and we allowed them to build off of that momentum from there.
“We had many chances again in the third period, but we just couldn’t buy a goal,” he added.
Justin Gregory, Trevor Hoth, and Kyle Fink beat Lakers’ goalie Tanner Hamilton.
With the race for second set to go down to the wire, Strachan already is focused on tonight’s game against the Ice Dogs, which is a squad that has had the upper hand over the Lakers of late.
“That will be a huge game,” Strachan noted.
“In the last few games we’ve played against them, we have given them a few wins by just relaxing against them, so I think we just need to come in and play a full 60 minutes,” he stressed.
The Lakers now begin a three-game homestand starting Saturday (Feb. 2) at 7:30 p.m. against the Iron Rangers.
The squad will welcome the Ice Dogs next Wednesday (Feb. 6) before hosting the Iron Rangers once again Feb. 12.
