Staff
Robbie Bonthron figured he had waited so long to light the lamp, he might as well get his money’s worth all in one night.
In front of family and friends who made the 30-km trek from his hometown of Kaministiquia, the Fort Frances Lakers’ defenceman scored his first two goals of the season to pace the Lakers to a 4-1 win over the host Thunder Bay North Stars last night.
An evening earlier, the Lakers returned to their winning ways by downing the Minnesota Iron Rangers 6-2 in Hoyt Lakes.
Fort Frances (32-8-0-1) scored four unanswered goals against the North Stars last night, including three during a second period that saw them outshoot Thunder Bay 13-2.
The Lakers beat the North Stars (23-17-4) for the eighth time in 11 meetings this season after Thunder Bay had snapped the team’s 13-game winning streak last week at the annual SIJHL Showcase.
Bonthron tipped home Dylan Kooner’s shot at 12:42 of the second to make it 3-1 for the Lakers, who moved 15 points ahead of second-place Thunder Bay with three games in hand.
He came back for more about four minutes later, blasting a point shot past North Stars’ goalie Eric Mann to cap the scoring.
Former Laker Aaron Wesley-Chisel put Thunder Bay in front midway through the first but that was the last puck to evade goalie Nathan Park, who made 21 saves the rest of the way to earn the win.
The Lakers tied it on Dylan Robertson’s power-play marker at 13:29.
In the second, Fort native Nolan Ross continued his hot streak since joining the Lakers by netting his fifth goal on a one-timer off a feed from Robertson.
The third period was scoreless.
Against the Iron Rangers (20-15-6), a four-goal first period sparked the Lakers’ victory.
Fort Frances jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Kooner and back-to-back markers by Mason Meyer in a span of 1:18 near the midway point of the frame.
Matt O’Dea replied with a power-play goal at 13:11, but Lucas DeBenedet answered back on a setup from Meyer and Bonthron at 18:27.
The Lakers put the game out of reach with two more goals in the second.
Nolan’s ended the evening for Iron Rangers’ starting goalie Kyle Carignan, who allowed five goals on 23 shots before being yanked for former Laker Devin Tappenden.
Robertson later scored against Tappenden, who posted 21 saves in the game.
Evan Bennett picked up a meaningless tally for the lone goal of the third against Park, who had an uneventful evening with only 17 saves as his team outshot Minnesota 45-19.
The struggling Iron Rangers now have lost two in a row and six of their past seven.
The Lakers will close out a five-game road trip Saturday night against the Dryden GM Ice Dogs.
Those two teams will clash again Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at “The Duke” (Couchiching Arena).
Laker fundraiser
In related news, the Lakers are teaming up with Tess’ Kitchen for a take-out dinner fundraiser on Feb. 12 from 4-6:30 p.m.
A meal of homemade meatballs and perogies will be on sale for $15 and can be picked up at Tess’ Kitchen at 1030 Scott Street.
All proceeds go towards the Lakers to help with operational costs.
Pre-orders are appreciated and can be made by calling Tess at 2174-0787 or Wendy at 274-7066.
