Joey Payeur
Once the Fort Frances Lakers got the offence rolling, the rest of the night was a walk in the “Park.”
The Lakers scored four goals in just over four minutes in the second period, and Nathan Park made 24 saves to earn the shutout in his SIJHL debut, as Fort Frances blanked the English River Miners 5-0 last night in Ear Falls.
Park was rock steady in his first game since joining the Lakers from the Selkirk Steelers of the MJHL on Dec. 9.
The Steelers had released park at the beginning of the month while he was recovering from unspecified surgery.
“How we heard about him was from an ex-player who is playing in the MJHL, and he spoke very highly of him and his ability,” noted Lakers’ general manager and head coach Wayne Strachan.
“He put us in contact with Nathan and the procedure started from there,” Strachan added.
“In talking to a few other people associated with the MJHL, they all said good things about his play and we were told more than once if you can get him, he will help your team.”
The 19-year-old from Edmonton went 0-2 with a 3.37 GAA and .889 save percentage this year with Selkirk after going 12-3 with a 1.56 GAA and a .940 save percentage last season.
“Last night it was only 0-0 after the first because of him,” lauded Strachan.
“We were not very good in front of him and he made two huge saves to keep them off the scoreboard,” he remarked.
“He moves well, is positionally strong, has good rebound control, and makes big saves,” Strachan continued.
“We are very pleased with what we saw out of Nathan.”
But with incumbent goalies Devin Tappenden and Pierce Dushenko having raised their games of late, Park’s emergence on the scene has further complicated the Lakers’ goaltending picture.
“We have a tough decision ahead of us,” Strachan admitted.
“Pierce has come in and played strong in the three games he has played, Devin has picked up his game since the arrival of Pierce,” he noted.
“And now Nathan has come in and proved he can make timely saves when the team needs them—something we have looked for all season.
“It will not be an easy task to make a decision on what we are going to do,” Strachan said.
English River (5-21-3) looked to employ the same defensive strategy from the outset of the game that had worked so well for them in earning a split of the two-game series here Dec. 5-6.
But the Lakers (21-7-1), who now have won four-straight, went to work in rapid-fire fashion in the second.
Colton Spicer got things started, with Mason Meyer cashing in short-handed just over a minute later.
Carter Chorney joined the goal parade before Marco Romano netted his first goal since joining the Lakers eight games ago.
Matt Vela notched the lone goal of the third.
English River, which only had three shots on goal in the third, has now lost five-straight games and 10 of their past 11.
The Lakers welcomed defenceman Aaron Wesley-Chisel back to the lineup last night after missing three games with a shoulder injury.
That leaves forward Donovan Cousineau (thumb) as the only Laker on the injured list.
His return not expected until after the holiday break.
The Lakers, meanwhile, can put some more distance between themselves and the second-place Thunder Bay (18-10-3) when they host the North Stars tomorrow night in their final pre-Christmas game.
Thunder Bay, which trails Fort Frances by four points (with the Lakers holding two games in hand), snapped a three-game losing skid Wednesday night with a 4-3 win over the visiting Minnesota Iron Rangers.
