Joey Payeur
The Fort Frances Lakers decided it was time to remind the Thunder Bay North Stars who currently is in charge of the SIJHL.
Cody Wickstrom scored a power-play goal with 2:19 to go to help lift the visiting Lakers’ to a 6-4 victory Saturday night.
Fort Frances (33-6-0-2) used its third-straight win—and its first in the past three outings against Thunder Bay (27-7-1-4)—to move nine points up on the North Stars for first place.
Thunder Bay does hold two games in hand.
The Lakers also jumped one spot to No. 6 in the Canadian Junior ‘A’ Hockey League top 20 rankings.
SIJHL leading scorer Lucas DeBenedet, one of five Lakers with two points Saturday, was rewarded for his part in the team’s recent success by being named the Pizza Hut player-of-the-week for the second time this season.
DeBenedet, who also earned the honour in Week 1, had five goals and two assists in three games last week and continues to remain on top of the league scoring races in goals (37), assists (45), and points (82).
Ryan McQueen put the Lakers up 1-0 at 6:21 of the first with his second of the season.
But the North Stars roared back with goals by Jesse Taylor (power play) and Zach Grzelewski to make it 2-1 entering the first intermission.
The Lakers charged out of the dressing room ready to go for the second, with Kevin Kurm reaching the 20-goal plateau at 1:13.
Mason Meyer then notched his 31st of the campaign during a man-advantage at 5:17 to put the Fort back ahead 3-2.
Alex Valliant drew the North Stars even with his marker with exactly a minute left in the middle frame.
DeBenedet converted a Meyer pass at 10:09 of the third, but Taylor netted his second of the game with another power-play shot that eluded Lakers’ goalie Jordan Cartney at the tail end of a two-man advantage.
But with Thunder Bay’s Ryan Walsh in the penalty box for tripping, Wickstrom drilled the puck past Stars’ goalie Eric Mann for his fifth of the season to give Fort Frances a lead it would not surrender.
Lyndon Lipinski sealed the win with an empty-netter with four seconds left for his 23rd of the season.
Cartney had 19 saves to earn the win while Mann made 33 stops in a losing effort.
The Lakers began their string of good results with a two-game sweep at the annual SIJHL “Showcase” last week in Spooner, Wis.
Fort Frances beat the English River Miners 5-2 last Wednesday afternoon in front of the assembled college, junior, and professional scouts who make the yearly trip to the “Showcase” to try and pinpoint potential future stars for their programs.
“I think anytime you know someone can be watching it puts a little jump in your step,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“We talked about making a baby step in the right direction before the game and, as a whole, we came to play.
“All 20 guys dressed contributed in some way for the win,” he added.
“Was it the people in the stands that motivated them? It very well may have been, but we were energized and focused on the job at hand.”
Lipinski, Miles Nolan, Brent Aiken, Cam Jackson, and Meyer scored for the Lakers.
Devin Tappenden earned his first win in a Lakers’ uniform with 26 saves while Greg Harney made 41 stops in the Miners’ net.
“To Devin’s credit, I think he was putting a bit of pressure on himself and was down because he/we didn’t have immediate success,” Strachan said about the former Burlington Cougar, who won his first game in three outings with Fort Frances.
“He seemed focused and into the game, and in the first [period] showed this with two game-breaking saves to keep it 0-0,” added Strachan, whose team had lost three of four entering the contest.
“Then his play kind of just built from there,” Strachan noted. “He made saves we needed him to and he made four-five key saves to save the team and our success.
“Good for him and good for the team to make this step after a rough week.”
The Lakers followed that up with a 5-2 triumph over the Dryden Ice Dogs the following afternoon.
DeBenedet gave the scouts an eyeful—rallying Fort Frances from a 2-0 deficit by scoring four-straight goals, including a short-handed one, before McQueen capped the scoring.
“We were in a situation where we needed someone to step up and turn things around after the first and being down,” noted Strachan.
“Between periods, we talked about being better and elevating our game . . . Lucas and Mason [Meyer] did just that.
“The two of them were nice to watch moving their feet, the puck, and going to the net,” Strachan added.
“As a result, Lucas walks away with four goals from it and a strong performance as he probably could have had five or six with all the opportunities he had.
“In saying that, his stock raised significantly from his performance,” said Strachan.
“A few schools were down to speak with some of the players after the game and were very impressed with his play.”
Cartney turned away 30 shots for the win.
Fort Frances was on the road last night to face the Minnesota Iron Rangers (23-10-2-4), with the outcome unavailable by press time.
The Lakers return to action here Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the North Stars, the host English River on Saturday night.
