Jamie Mountain
For the second-straight game, a shootout was needed to decide the outcome.
And once again it didn’t go the Fort Frances Lakers’ way.
Two points from Hunter Buzzi weren’t enough as the Lakers fell 4-3 to the host Dryden GM Ice Dogs on Saturday night to extend the squad’s losing streak to 12 games.
Ian Jarvis opened the scoring for the visiting Lakers with a power-play goal at 5:51 of the first on a feed from Noah Loveday and Buzzi.
But the Ice Dogs struck twice before the period ended on markers by Woody Galbraith (15:28) and Wyatt Lawrence (18:36).
Defenceman Jack Dunnell netted his second of the season just 1:14 into the second period to pull the Lakers even at 2-2.
Ian Tookenay and Buzzi drew the assists.
But Jacen Bracko notched his 23rd of the season with 46 seconds left in the frame give the hosts a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Loveday tallied the equalizer at 9:13 of the third on an unassisted effort.
Neither team could solve each other down the stretch and the game went to sudden-death overtime, which also solved nothing.
In the ensuing shootout, Matthew Pitchenese and Bracko converted on their chances for Dryden while Dunnell and Nick Lucas were stopped on theirs to send the Lakers to another loss.
Jacob Gnidziejko earned the win between the pipes, finishing with 23 stops.
Brett Akins took the loss despite stopping 46 shots.
Shots on goal favoured Dryden by a 49-26 margin.
The Lakers were 1-for-5 on the man-advantage while the Ice Dogs went 0-for-2.
The two teams will square off again tonight in Dryden.
Fort Frances then heads to Thunder Bay on Wednesday to take on the North Stars before returning home to host the Iron Rangers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The Thief River Falls Norskies continue to lead the SIJHL with a 28-1-0-0 record.
Dryden (22-3-5-1) occupies second place, with the Thunder Bay North Stars (17-10-3-0) in third and the English River Miners (13-13-0-3) in fourth.
Fort Frances (6-19-1-3) remains in fifth place, with the Iron Rangers (3-24-1-2) in the basement.
