Staff
There has never bee a bigger crowd in SIJHL history.
But for the Fort Frances Lakers, bigger did not necessarily mean better.
The Lakers (22-21-2-4) had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss to the host Thief River Falls Norskies (27-16-2-3) on Friday night.
A league-record 3,045 fans came out to the Ralph Engelstad Arena to support not only the Norskies but a cancer fundraiser that saw the home team wearing special commemorative jerseys.
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie after Reily McIntosh and Matt Tustin exchanged markers.
The Norskies seized gained control in the second on goals by Tommy Stang and Dylan Dix in a span of just 29 seconds.
Dix then closed out the scoring with lone goal of the third.
Ryan Buttazzoni made 40 saves to get the win for the expansion Norskies, who now sit just one point back of the second-place Thunder Bay North Stars (27-16-6) with a game in hand.
Jessie Heisz had 33 stops in a losing cause for the Lakers, who added a big name to their already-lengthy injury list.
Jared Virtanen, who leads the team in scoring and is fourth in the SIJHL with 74 points, was tripped by Buttazzoni according to Lakers’ head coach Wayne Strachan and landed on his own arm.
The prognosis is not good, as Strachan said Virtanen could miss two-four weeks.
The Lakers continue their four-game road swing with games against the Minnesota Iron Rangers (6-41-2)–mired in a 20-game losing streak–this Wednesday and Friday down in Hoyt Lakes.
The squad then returns home to face the first-place Dryden GM Ice Dogs (40-7-4-0) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
