Staff
Down by one game in the series, one goal in the third period, and one man on the ice, it would have been really easy for the Fort Frances Lakers to pack it in.
Instead, they decided to make it a night to remember.
Nolan Ross scored short-handed, then Bryson Jasper followed 1:19 later with the game-winner, as the Lakers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the host Dryden GM Ice Dogs in Game 4 of the SIJHL final last night.
After losing what could have been a heart-breaking 3-2 decision in overtime in Game 3 the previous evening, the Lakers showed their resilience in battling back to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
That sets up a pivotal Game 5 tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena here.
Game 6 then will go Saturday night back in Dryden.
Should the series go the distance, Game 7 would be back here on Tuesday (April 21).
“I think we are happy to come home tied after losing in overtime,” said Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan, whose team handed the Ice Dogs their first home loss this post-season.
“It was a game where we needed to step up and have results, and we did that,” Strachan added.
The Lakers erased a pair of one-goal deficits last night, exactly as the Ice Dogs did to them in Game 3.
Derek McPhail, who was the hero the previous night with his goal in overtime, struck again at 4:23 of the first.
Wyatt Cota answered at 14:51 on a gift goal set up when Robbie Bonthron’s dump-in took a crazy bounce off the end boards.
The Lakers dominated the second period with a 13-7 shot advantage, but wound up trailing 2-1 at intermission when Dylan Cusmano converted Kent Walchuk’s feed at 18:21.
Then in the third, while short-handed, Ross created a turnover in his own zone and broke out on a 2-on-1 with Cota before sending his linemate in alone with a lead pass.
Cota was stopped by Tate Sproxton but the rebound went to the side of the net, where Ross raced in and stuffed it in.
With Dryden still reeling, Dylan Robertson charged into the Ice Dogs’ zone and threaded a pass to Mason Meyer.
Meyer drew the defence to him, then backhanded a pass right onto the stick of Jasper in the high slot, who beat Sproxton.
“I was very pleased to see us rebound and not get down about the overtime loss,” lauded Strachan.
“After the loss, we put things in perspective about the series and what we needed to do to have success in last night’s game,” he added.
“They answered the bell and played Laker hockey,” Strachan stressed.
“Now we need to remember the feeling and what we did to have success.”
Nathan Park made 22 saves to earn the win.
In Game 3, McPhail thrilled the home crowd at 8:39 of overtime after redirecting Blake Berg’s face-off win behind Park.
Troy Williams and Drew Walske had the other goals for the Ice Dogs.
Bowen Alcock and Cota tallied for the Lakers.
Lucas DeBenedet, the team’s second-leading scorer during the regular season with 64 points, missed his third-straight game and seventh in the past eight.
The two-time league MVP finalist is scheduled to resume skating next week, but is likely out for the rest of the series.
That means he won’t return until the start of the Dudley Hewitt Cup on April 28.
That’s still better than the news regarding veteran forward Donovan Cousineau, whose junior career won’t conclude on his terms.
The 20-year-old Fort native has been out since Feb. 7 after re-injuring the same knee he hurt last season, which kept him out for a long stretch of games.
Strachan said today that Cousineau has decided his season is done because the injury is not getting any better.
