Dan Falloon
The Fort Frances Lakers finally got their pistols blazing in the shootout.
After scoring only once in the shootout in three previous losses in the penalty-shot contest, two of three Lakers scored here Tuesday night as Fort Frances held off the Sioux Lookout Flyers 6-5.
Justin Erhart and Byron Katapaytuk beat Flyers’ goalie Jordan Giguere while Jameson Shortreed allowed only AJ Wensley to tally after stopping Sioux Lookout’s first two shooters.
“We didn’t play our best game tonight [Tuesday]. We played in spurts,” admitted Lakers’ head coach Wayne Strachan.
“The line of Katapaytuk really carried us, and maybe Byron was rewarded . . . by scoring the shootout winner for us.”
Scoring the winner was a bit of redemption for Katapaytuk, who was the Lakers’ final shooter in a 1-0 shootout loss to the Flyers back on Feb. 2.
Strachan also felt Katapaytuk’s winner represented another challenge his squad has overcome.
“We haven’t had a lot of luck in the shootout,” he acknowledged. “In the past, the guys have been a little too fancy.
“A couple guys shot tonight [Tuesday] and it worked out for us.”
The Lakers are now 6-5 in their last 11 games, with four of those losses coming against the SIJHL’s top two teams in Fort William and Dryden.
Getting the two points was crucial for the Lakers as they kept pace with the fourth-place K&A Wolverines, who edged Wisconsin 4-3 on Tuesday night.
The Lakers, who trail K&A by six points, have five games left in the regular season while the Wolverines have just four to play.
The teams meet twice here this weekend (Feb. 19-20) in a potential first-round playoff preview.
But K&A trails the Flyers by only four points, with two games in hand, so the Wolverines still have a chance to leapfrog Sioux Lookout into third place.
Both the Lakers and Flyers showcased quick-strike offences late in the first period Tuesday night.
Adam Wensley opened the scoring for the visitors with 2:03 left in the opening frame, snapping home a quick centering pass from Dwight Lee.
The Lakers charged right back as Matt Caulfield passed out front to Cody Edwards but he missed the yawning cage, shooting just wide.
Fort Frances wasn’t denied for much longer, though, as Katapaytuk’s attempted pass to Mike Jourdain bounced off a Sioux Lookout defenceman and past starter Peter Emery just 19 seconds before intermission.
But the Lakers weren’t done yet. Tim Hennessey charged up the ice off the ensuing face-off and passed out front to Jaret Leclair, who beat a stunned Emery up high with his fourth of the year to give Fort Frances the 2-1 lead heading to the dressing room.
Sioux Lookout knotted the game early in the second when Chase Dobranski took a feed from Troy Dumais and wired one past Shortreed.
The Lakers broke the tie just 21 seconds later, however, when Josh Scott blasted home his first of the season as Tyler Stevenson provided a screen.
Sioux Lookout again drew even at 9:25 when A.J. Wensley cranked one from the point past Shortreed to make it 3-3.
Things stayed that way for the better part of a period until the Lakers put one home at 7:56 with a delayed penalty against Sioux Lookout.
Katapaytuk ripped down the right wing before stopping and feeding Jordan Carne, who tapped it to Hennessey who completed the tic-tac-toe goal.
Fort Frances padded their lead at 9:31 when Stevenson got his stick on an Edwards’ point shot for his team-leading 18th of the season and ending Emery’s night.
Giguere came on in relief.
The Flyers stormed back—first at 14:37 when Colten Brule got to a rebound as a Lakers’ penalty wound down.
Sioux Lookout then completed the comeback with 31 seconds to go as Brad Bienvenu tipped an Adam Wensley point shot past Shortreed.
