Dan Falloon
Fort Frances Lakers’ forward Tim Hennessey maintains he likes to let his on-ice actions set an example for his teammates.
He certainly sent a message here Tuesday night against the Sioux Lookout Flyers.
The St. Louis, Mo. native scored the game-winner with just over five minutes left in the third period as the fifth-place Lakers (9-24-4) edged the fourth-place Flyers 4-3.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Lakers while the Flyers now have dropped three in a row.
The loss also prevented the Flyers from regaining third place as the surging K&A Wolverines (15-22-5) have a one-point advantage, although the Flyers (16-22-2) hold two games in hand.
The Lakers, meanwhile, sit 12 points behind the Flyers.
Sioux Lookout got off to a promising start as Galen Matyjanka netted a power-play marker just 71 seconds into the game.
But the host recovered from the goal, peppering Flyers’ goalie Jordan Giguere and holding a 9-4 shots advantage after the first.
Justin Erhart led the charge with a hand in a pair of scoring chances, first slipping past a Sioux Lookout defender and dishing a pass to Tyler Stevenson, who fanned on the opportunity.
Moments later, Erhart stole a puck shot through the middle of the Flyers’ zone but his hard shot from the slot sailed wide.
The Flyers doubled their lead early in the second when Alex Beaulne took a feed from Kalan Ewald and powered a backhand past Lakers’ goalie Jameson Shortreed at 5:03.
The Lakers got on the board at 12:25when Jaret Leclair wristed a laser over Giguere’s left shoulder to cut the lead to 2-1.
And after pressing in the first period, Erhart finally got his just desserts. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Erhart took advantage of the extra space—streaking up the left wing before cutting to the middle and deking out Giguere to square things at 2-2 with just a dozen seconds left in the second.
Sioux Lookout regained the lead 2:42 into the third. Ian Alcock inched his stick ahead of a blanketing Lakers’ defender and slam a one-timer from Adam Wensley past Shortreed to pull ahead 3-2.
A new face brought Fort Frances back into a tie as Matt Caulfield corralled a loose puck out front and backhanded his first as a Laker just past Giguere’s left skate at 7:24.
The Lakers weren’t about to let up the pressure. Jordan Carne cruised in moments later, forcing Giguere to make a nifty glove save.
Hennessey emerged as the hero at 14:55, picking up a pass from Mike Jourdain and ripping a bad-angle wrister over Giguere’s left shoulder to stake the Lakers to a 4-3 lead.
Shortreed was forced to be stellar between the pipes in the final minutes, most notably snagging an Alcock blast with just under three minutes to go.
Lakers’ coach Wayne Strachan felt his team showed a firm commitment to defence Tuesday night—a responsibility that had been sorely missing after allowing 14 goals in the team’s previous two games.
“We talked about it a lot, our improvements, and the types of things we could do defensively to improve our team,” noted Strachan.
“About the last 30 minutes, we played smart, did a great job, and that needs to be our game right now. Keep it simple,” he stressed.
“That’s going to be our theme for the rest of the year,” Strachan added. “Defence first and getting the job done.”
The Lakers will take to the ice against the last-place Wisconsin Mustangs this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
