Joey Payeur
Like a summer cloudburst, the storm brought on by the Minnesota Iron Rangers dissipated in an instant thanks to the Fort Frances Lakers’ brightest ray of sunshine of late breaking through.
Nick Minerva stifled an Iron Rangers’ rally with his goal at 6:45 of the third period as the Lakers went on to a 6-2 victory Saturday night at the ’52 Canadians Arena for their sixth-straight win.
Minerva, who leads all SIJHL defencemen in scoring and is just one point back of teammate Dylan Robertson in the league scoring race (37-36), jumped up on the rush to net a rebound of Cole Tymkin’s initial shot.
“That was definitely huge,” Lakers’ forward Andrew Willner said about Minerva’s goal that made it 4-2 after Minnesota nearly had erased a 3-0 deficit.
“We knew they were going to come out and work hard against us in the third, and we just had to weather the storm,” added Willner, who one-timed a pass from Minerva past Iron Rangers’ goalie Kyle Carignan at 13:42 of the third to increase the lead to 5-2.
“If we just played the game the right way, we knew things would go our way,” he noted.
The Lakers (23-3-0-1), whose game against the host Thunder Bay North Stars scheduled for last Wednesday was postponed due to inclement weather, kept their grip on the No. 5 spot in the CJHL’s weekly top 20 rankings.
The Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL) remained in the top spot.
But Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan saw plenty of thorns mixed in with the rosiness of a four-goal victory.
“In the first, we were a little up and down,” he said about the scoreless opening frame.
“I thought we outskated them and definitely had a few good opportunities, and their goalie battled hard to make a few big saves,” added Strachan.
“But we struggled a bit in our own zone at times.
“The second was better as our level of backchecking and the way our defence stepped up at their blueline at times created some more offence for us,” Strachan said.
“Early in the third, we quit moving our feet and working, and they were all over us and got control of the game.”
“We dug ourselves a hole by spotting them the 3-0 lead,” said Iron Rangers’ head coach Chris Walby, who delivered a passionate post-game lecture to his troops, who were playing their third game in three days.
“We nearly worked our way out of it and then the wheels fell off the wagon,” he noted.
The Lakers go into the holiday break with a five-point lead, and two games in hand, over the second-place Dryden GM Ice Dogs (19-6-2-2) in what has turned into a two-horse race in the SIJHL.
Third-place Thunder Bay (11-15-0-2) sits 18 points behind Dryden.
The Iron Rangers (11-16-2) are next, followed by the last-place English River Miners (7-17-1-4).
Fort Frances will use the break to hopefully get fully healthy, with defencemen Ryan Gazich (concussion) and Dustin Deugau (shoulder), along with forward Carter Chorney (lower-body injury), all sidelined for Saturday’s game.
That gave Fort Frances Midget ‘AA’ Canadians’ blueliner Izzy Smith the chance to get called up for the game in what was his SIJHL debut.
“Izzy kept it simple and is a good skater, and as the game picked up, he looked comfortable out there,” lauded Strachan.
“I thought he should have got an assist on Robertson’s second goal.
“I liked what he did out there,” added Strachan.
“He never really got himself or the team in trouble, and that’s pretty good off of just one practice.”
Smith had a noticeable glow of accomplishment on his face after the game.
“It felt pretty good, not a lot different from ‘AA,’ although it is quicker and there’s a lot more hitting,” he noted.
“I felt some pressure because if they had scored when I was out there, I would probably have thought it was my fault,” he added.
The Lakers don’t play again until Jan. 2 when they host the Miners.
“Since we had our extended break in November, I think we’ve only lost one game, so we’re going into the [holiday] break on a high note,” said Strachan.
“It’ll be good for the players to get home and see family and friends, and it’ll be a good break mental-wise for them,” he added.
