Staff
The road to the Bill Salonen Cup once again will go through Fort Frances.
Nolan Ross scored the decisive goal on a second-period power-play as the No. 5-ranked Fort Frances Lakers hit the 40-win plateau by edging the host Dryden GM Ice Dogs 3-2 on Saturday night.
With the win, the Lakers (40-8-0-2) clinched the regular-season crown for the third-straight season and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs as they look to capture a third-consecutive SIJHL championship.
It also earned them the right to play the winner of the first-round playoff matchup between the fourth-place Minnesota Iron Rangers (18-27-2-2) and the last-place English River Miners (11-33-2-4).
All five SIJHL teams now know their playoff futures, with Dryden (31-13-3-3) locked into second place and a semi-final matchup versus the third-place Thunder Bay North Stars (25-22-1-3).
Roshen Jaswal was in on all three Lakers’ goals on Saturday—combining with Nick Minerva to set up Ross at 15:38 of the second with Braedyn Aubin off for goalie interference.
The Lakers had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Christian Ripley and Jaswal (power-play).
Josh Oberg got Dryden on the board in the second before Ross restored the two-goal lead.
Matt Houston cashed in on an Ice Dogs’ power play in the third to make it 3-2.
But on a night when Dryden outshot the Lakers 33-16, Pierce Dushenko came up big when needed to earn the win in goal.
On Friday night, Matt Tustin scored twice in the opening minute of the second period to lift the Lakers to a 4-1 win over visiting English River.
Tustin broke a scoreless tie just 11 seconds into the period against Miners’ goalie Reid Kilburn, then struck again at the 44-second mark.
Cole Tymkin later made it 3-0.
Kyle Crawford spoiled Brandon Bodnar’s shutout bid midway through the third to cut the lead to 3-1.
But Davis Ross sealed the deal with a power-play marker just under five minutes later.
The Lakers next visit Hoyt Lakes tomorrow night to face the Iron Rangers.
Their next home game is this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Dryden.
