Staff
As opposed to the family that stars in the TV smash hit “Duck Dynasty,” this Robertson is more interested in helping create a puck dynasty.
Dylan Robertson netted the only goal of a five-round shootout to give the Fort Frances Lakers a 5-4 win over the Thunder Bay North Stars here Saturday night.
The win was the fifth-straight for the league-leading Lakers (22-7-1) and 13th in their last 15 outings.
The second-place North Stars (18-11-4), meanwhile, lost their second-straight and fifth in six games to fall five points behind Fort Frances.
The Lakers also hold three games in hand.
“With games in hand, it’s a very big win that could further help us down the road at the end of the year,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan, whose team still slipped one spot in the CJHL’s weekly top 20 rankings to No. 15.
“We go into the [holiday] break with momentum and can feel good about our game coming back in January,” he added.
After Lucas DeBenedet started the shootout by losing the handle on the puck before he could get a shot off, Lakers’ goalie Pierce Dushenko and Thunder Bay netminder P.D. Melgoza took turns making one fantastic save after another.
Carter Chorney, Wyatt Cota, and Mason Meyer all were robbed by Melgoza while Daniel McKitrick, Bradley Belisle, Matthias Gardiman, and Nicholas Nigro suffered the same fate at the hands of Dushenko.
Robertson then came in strong off the left-wing and executed two quick dekes to freeze Melgoza before sending the puck behind him.
Needing to score to extend the game, Kenny Turner tried to sneak one through the pads of Dushenko but he slammed the door shut to end what was a night of musical goalies for the Lakers.
Dushenko started the game but was pulled due to illness less than a minute after giving up Avery Siau’s rebound goal early in the second period that cut the Lakers’ lead to 4-2.
Nathan Park took over for him—and was wearing Devin Tappenden’s usual No. 78 jersey, with Tappenden’s name removed from the back.
That may be a sign that Tappenden’s days with the Lakers either are numbered or finished, although Strachan said he still was on the roster as of yesterday.
“He is a good person that has played with intensity and well through the month of December,” Strachan said of Tappenden.
“I have always said when he is intense and working, he is a solid goaltender.
“We definitely have a tough decision ahead of us before Jan. 10,” Strachan added.
Then near the midway mark of the third period, Dushenko surprisingly was put back in goal with the Lakers up 4-3 when Park, who also was fighting illness, became too sick himself to continue.
Dushenko surrendered the tying goal to Nigro later in the third to Nigro—the North Stars’ third power-play goal of the night
But his shootout heroics, along with his 18 saves in regulation time, resulted in Dushenko earning his third-straight win after losing his Lakers’ debut back on Dec. 5.
Melgoza had 26 saves in regulation but lost his second shootout since joining the North Stars on Nov. 19.
The Lakers resume play Jan. 3 when the Dryden GM Ice Dogs visit the Ice For Kids Arena.
