Staff
Already sporting a scar from a Wolverine bite, the Fort Frances Lakers had their problems compounded when some shooting Stars fell on their head.
The Lakers (5-10-3) are in the throes of a three-game losing streak after being edged 4-3 in a shootout by the last-place K&A Wolverines (4-12-4) last Friday and then being routed 8-0 by the league-leading Fort William North Stars (16-1) on Sunday, with both setbacks happening at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Fort Frances was no match for the red-hot North Stars, who now have won 10-straight games and retained their No. 18 ranking in the latest Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 rankings, which came out Monday.
Fort William blitzed the home side early, scoring three times in the first eight minutes, and never eased up, outshooting the Lakers 55-26.
Olivier Morin launched the assault at 2:41 before Dan Usiski and Randall Hanlan (power play) scored at 7:00 and 7:56, respectively, to chase Lakers’ goalie Jameson Shortreed to the bench after he made 10 stops on 13 shots.
T.J. Pocock was treated with no greater kindness after coming on in relief of Shortreed, with Brennan Wright upping the lead to 4-0 at 11:39.
The Lakers found somewhat of a formula to contain Fort William in the second, with Ryan Magill the only one to light the lamp in the frame with another man-advantage tally.
But the North Stars poured it on in the third, outshooting Fort Frances 21-6 and racking up another three-pack of goals in the midst of a heap of fisticuffs between the two squads.
Riley Marsh beat Pocock at 6:24 to make it 6-0. Three minutes later, the fireworks began as the Lakers’ Ryan Presthus and Usiski engaged in the first of five scraps over the next 4:17, which resulted in all 10 players involved earning game misconducts.
Trevor Gamache increased Fort William’s lead to 7-0 at 11:28, with Hanlan earning his fifth point of the night on the play, while Casey Dean rubbed a little more salt in the wound with 57 seconds to play.
Guillaume Piche had a relatively quiet night with 26 saves to earn his first shutout of the season and improve to a stellar 11-1 for the season with a 2.46 goals against average.
Pocock kicked aside 37 shots during his busy evening of relief duty.
Two nights earlier, against a struggling Wolverines’ team, the Lakers held the lead three different times. But K&A refused to quit and wound up coming out on the right side of the scoreboard after a hat trick by David Dawd in regulation time and some shootout dramatics.
Colton Kennedy put Fort Frances on the board first with a power-play marker 4:12 of the opening frame.
Dawd evened the game at 4:02 of the second with the man-advantage before Kennedy’s second of the night (and 13th of the season) restored the hosts’ lead at 12:28.
But only 1:21 later, Dawd struck again to send the game to the third on even terms.
Tim Hennessey’s first of the season at 12:47 of the final period put the Lakers in good shape to come away with two points.
Cue Dawd, who beat Shortreed for the third time in the contest for the equalizer at 14:05.
In the shootout, K&A goalie J.R. Thibert held his ground, stopping all three Fort Frances’ snipers.
That set the stage for Hartwell Marable to win the day for the Wolverines as he zipped a shot past Shortreed, who had turned aside the other two K&A shooters.
The Lakers will try to end their current skid tomorrow night (Nov. 12) when they host third-place Sioux Lookout (8-10-1).
The Flyers lead the Lakers by four points in the standings, although Fort Frances does have a game in hand.
