Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers may have taken their number back after the Thunder Bay North Stars having it for most of the season.
Dylan Kooner scored twice and Jared Virtanen had four points as the Lakers took both ends of a home-and-home series with the Stars thanks to a 5-4 win in Thunder Bay this past Tuesday.
Fort Frances (22-20-2-4) moved within two points of the fourth-place English River Miners (24-20-1-3) and is on a three-game winning streak due to sweeping the Stars after winning one of its first 10 meetings with Thunder Bay this season.
But after beating the Stars 3-2 in overtime at the Ice for Kids Arena on Monday, most of the Lakers looked to have forgotten what time the game started on Tuesday against second-place Thunder Bay (27-15-5).
Brandon Bodnar was a giant in between the pipes in the first for the Fort as the Stars held a massive 20-6 lead on the shot clock.
Nicholas Nigro was the only Star to get one past Bodnar in the frame at 3:43, then did it again and reached the 30-goal mark just 47 seconds into the second.
The Lakers decided enough was enough at that point and strung together four consecutive goals.
Julian Uhryniuk, who tied Monday’s game late in the third, drained a power-play goal at 4:37 for his eighth of the year to slice the lead in half.
Kooner tied it at 14:46, with Virtanen notching his 50th assist of the year on the play.
Those two combined again 44 seconds into the third, with Kooner crossing the 30-goal barrier for a 3-2 Fort lead.
He then returned the favour, setting up Virtanen’s 22nd of the campaign at 9:50.
Jonathon Masters picked up his fifth at 13:31 to draw the Stars to within one.
But 55 seconds later, Matt Tustin doused Thunder Bay’s rally plans with his 17th of the year thanks to Brandon Zajicek’s second assist of the night and Virtanen’s league-leading 52nd helper.
Masters made it a two-goal night by tallying his sixth of the year with 2:42 left, but the Stars were turned away by Bodnar (35 saves) the rest of the way.
Jordan Elliott, who was phenomenal in defeat on Monday with 46 saves, was much less so on Tuesday with only 18 stops on 23 shots.
The Lakers head across the border on Friday to square off with the third-place Thief River Falls Norskies (26-16-2-3).
The expansion Norskies handed the woeful Minnesota Iron Rangers (6-39-2) their 18th straight loss last night 7-3 in Thief River Falls to win for the eighth time in the past 10 games and are now only two points back of the Stars for second.
With forwards Dawson Waddell and Austin Petrie and defencemen Mark Richter and Connor Keith still on the injured list, the Fort will be another body down against the Norskies.
Tanner Garnham traded fists with Stars chatterbox Tyler Minoletti with 6:35 left in the third, earning both an automatic one-game suspension for receiving game misconducts in the final 10 minutes of the third.
Next home game for the Fort is on March 4 against the first-place Dryden GM Ice Dogs at the IFK Arena.
