Lucas Punkari
Any advantage the Fort Frances Lakers had from hosting the first two games of their best-of-seven semi-final showdown with the Dryden Ice Dogs has been lost.
After being blanked 4-0 on Friday night, the Lakers put up a much better fight last night at the Ice For Kids Arena but ended up on the short end of a 3-2 decision, finding themselves in an 0-2 deficit to the Ice Dogs.
Game 3 goes tomorrow night in Dryden, with Game 4 there Thursday.
Game 5, if necessary, is slated for Friday at 7:30 p.m. back here.
“I thought tonight [Sunday] was a lot better effort for us,” Lakers’ head coach Wayne Strachan said.
“It wasn’t a great start again in the first period for us, but we got rolling as the period went along,” he noted.
“And as the game moved into the second period, we started to do some of the things that we are capable of doing.”
Last night’s game was not without controversy as the Lakers had two power-play goals disallowed in a 11-second span midway in the third period, when the score was 2-1 in favour of the visitors.
A goal by Jace Baldwin with 9:12 left in regulation time was disallowed due to contact made by a Lakers’ forward on Ice Dogs’ goalie Ian Perrier.
Then an apparent tally by Cody Hasbargen was waved off due to the net being knocked off its moorings.
With the momentum from the having two goals called back in their favour, the Ice Dogs extended their lead a few minutes later when Alex Galbraith worked his way along the boards and then made a nice move on Lakers’ goalie Tyler Ampe to seal the win.
“That definitely changed the momentum,” Lakers’ defenceman Morgan McNeill said.
Ryan Lobreau had a goal and an assist for the Ice Dogs in last night’s win while Tyler Stevenson and Jaret Leclair scored for the Lakers.
For the second-straight game, Perrier was stellar between the pipers for Dryden. He turned aside 24 shots last night after a 22-save shutout performance in Friday’s triumph.
“He’s been a key player for us,” Ice Dogs’ head coach Clint Mylymok said of his goalie, who sports a perfect 6-0 record, along with a 0.96 goals against average, so far in the playoffs.
“He’s the type of goalie that when he’s playing his best, he’s extremely tough to beat,” Mylymok noted.
“Everyone in the league knows that, and we’re just lucky to have him on our roster,” he added.
Len Pelletier netted a pair of goals in Friday’s opener while Ice Dogs’ captain and SIJHL MVP recipient John Mitchell chipped in two assists.
Meanwhile, the regular-season champion Wisconsin Wilderness took the first two games of their best-of-seven semi-final series against the defending league champs Thunder Bay North Stars in Spooner, winning 5-2 on Friday and then 4-2 on Saturday.
Game 3 of that series is slated for Thursday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
