Lucas Punkari
Heading into the third period here Tuesday night, it looked as is the Fort Frances Lakers’ recent slide would continue as they trailed the Duluth Clydesdales 3-1.
Instead, the Lakers came out firing on all cylinders over the final 20 minutes of play, scoring three unanswered goals to earn a 4-3 victory and snap a two-game losing skid.
When asked afterwards what sparked the turnaround, the players themselves felt it all started with what head coach Wayne Strachan told them during the second intermission.
“He pumped us up in the intermission, and after that we just started to play our game and our system, and it worked as we were on fire,” noted rookie forward Jordan Larson.
“In the first two periods, we didn’t play our best,” admitted forward Ryan Wildman.
“But Wayne gave us a good pep talk and once we came out of the dressing room, we were ready to go and score some goals,” he added.
Following a team meeting Sunday with assistant coach Grant Perrault, Strachan used some of the things the players talked about during that session as the key part of his address prior to the third period.
“They had talked about positiveness during the meeting,” Strachan noted. “And when I talked with them after the second period, I just asked them, ‘How can I come in here and be positive?’
“The guys responded that they didn’t do anything, so we just talked about what we needed to do in the third to step up as a team, and they did that by working hard and executing the game plan.”
Larson, Wildman, and Byron Katapaytuk all scored in the third to give the Lakers the victory, with Katapaytuk’s game-inning goal coming with just 3:28 to go.
“I was with Henry [Gutierrez] and I just told him to drop it [the puck] down low,” recalled Katapaytuk, who also assisted on Wildman’s game-tying marker.
“He did that and I was just able to crash the net from there, and the puck ended up going in.”
Alex Bruess netted his first career SIJHL goal for the Lakers in the first period, with Merritt Rysavy, a recently-acquired forward from the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers, getting an assist in his debut game.
David Tearse, Cody Stettin, and Keith Tomassoni scored for the Clydesdales, with Ryan Palm and Matt Morsette each registering a pair of assists.
Next up for the Lakers is a two-game road trip this weekend, starting with a clash Friday night against the Thunder Bay North Stars.
Then they’ll face the Clydesdales again Saturday night in Duluth.
After that, the Lakers will open a four-game homestand next Friday (Nov. 25) when the Iron Range Ironheads come to town.
