Joey Payeur
Slow start, stupendous finish.
Davis Ross scored in the fourth round of the shootout as the Fort Frances Lakers edged the Dryden GM Ice Dogs 5-4 in a Family Day matinee at the Ice For Kids Arena.
With a season-high crowd of more than 900 cheering them on, many of them local minor hockey players who got free admission by wearing their team jerseys, the Lakers (34-6-0-1) ran their league winning streak to nine games and moved 13 points up on the second-place Ice Dogs (25-11-3-3).
The Lakers also stayed at No. 7 in the CJHL’s latest top 20 weekly rankings, with the Penticton Vees (BCHL) still holding down top spot.
Ross, whose twin brother, Nolan, had clinched the last two shootouts for the Lakers, froze Dryden goalie Troy Pierce before going upstairs with a backhander.
“That’s the one I usually do in practice,” smiled Ross.
“I did the same one in Portage last year and it worked.”
The Ice Dogs, who now have lost 10-of-11 meetings with the Lakers this season, had another chance to tie it after Kyle Pouncy had done so in the previous round.
But Blake Berg was denied on a pad save by Pierce Dushenko to end the game.
It was Dushenko’s diving glove save on Woody Galbraith during a Dryden power play early in overtime that even allowed the game to get to a shootout.
The Lakers trailed 2-0 in the first on a pair of goals by Braedyn Aubin, but tied it before the period was up on deflection goals by Dylan Robertson (who later opened the scoring in the shootout) and Andrew Willner.
Aubin finished off his hat trick for the only goal of the second period before Brandon Zajicek tied it 2:21 into the third on a long blast.
Nic Noseworthy deflected a Troy Williams shot with 5:18 to go to put the Ice Dogs back in front.
But Willner converted Robertson’s centreing pass from behind the net just 1:13 later to force the extra period against a Dryden team that only had 14 skaters.
“Dryden wanted it more in the first 40 minutes,” admitted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“Maybe it’s because we went out in warm-up and saw they only had 14 [skaters], but we didn’t have that will, that hunger, to get into the game.
“We responded in a good way in the third, creating a lot of opportunities and playing more to our strengths,” he noted.
The Lakers were coming off a 5-2 win over the visiting Thunder Bay North Stars (22-21-0-3) on Friday night—scoring the last four goals after falling behind 2-0 early in the second.
Nick Minerva, Cole Tymkin, Nolan Ross, Willner (power play), and Davis Ross were the goal scorers.
Dushenko turned aside 29 shots for the win.
The Lakers welcomed defenceman Robbie Bonthron back to the lineup after he missed 12 games with a broken jaw suffered Dec. 19 against the Minnesota Iron Rangers.
But blueliner Roshen Jaswal (sprained wrist) is out for at least one more week while forward Dylan Kooner (fractured scapula) hopes to be cleared to return after his next meeting with doctors March 1.
The Lakers next head to Hoyt Lakes tomorrow night to face the fourth-place Iron Rangers (16-22-2-2).
Then they’ll host Thunder Bay again Friday in a 7:30 p.m. showdown at the Couchiching Arena.
