Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers and Sioux Lookout Flyers had nothing to play for, standings-wise, in their regular-season finale there Friday night.
But each team still had some fairly concrete motivations heading into the game.
The fifth-place Lakers (14-33-5) were looking to halt a four-game losing streak before the post-season while the third-place Flyers (20-27-5) wanted to regain a little swagger after having lost four of their previous five games to Fort Frances.
After a 4-2 Flyer victory, advantage Sioux Lookout.
With the loss, the Lakers enter their first-round playoff series against the fourth-place K&A Wolverines (19-28-5) on a five-game losing string.
The Lakers finished 4-7-1 against the Wolverines during the regular season, including a pair of one-goal decisions here Feb. 19 and 20.
The best-of-seven series opens Wednesday night in Thunder Bay.
Game 2 then goes Thursday in the Lakehead before the series shifts to Fort Frances for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Sunday.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday while Sunday’s game will start at 7:45 p.m.
On Friday night, the Lakers found themselves behind early after Nathan Brown beat starter Jameson Shortreed just 54 seconds into the game.
Adam Wensley followed up at 3:37 to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Byron Katapaytuk replied for Fort Frances at 2:42 of the second before Justin Erhart tied things at 2-2 at 14:30 of the third.
Defenceman Morgan McNeill assisted on both goals.
But the tie was short-lived as Clayton Lewis found the back of the net for the hosts on a power play at 17:09.
Darren Turner then added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the 4-2 victory.
Shortreed made 41 saves for the Lakers while Peter Emery turned aside 21 for the Flyers.
In related news, the Lakers handed out their season-ending awards Saturday night, with Shortreed emerging as the big winner.
The 17-year-old, who made 1,468 saves this year (over 600 more than the second-place goalie), won the team’s MVP and Fan Choice Award.
Defenceman Ryan Presthus took home the most improved player award while fellow blueliner Cody Hasbargen was named best defenceman.
Other award winners were Captain Tyler Stevenson (most gentlemanly), associate captain Tim Hennessey (most dedicated), and Katapaytuk (rookie of the year).
