Joey Payeur
In the 48 hours between their season-high third-straight loss and their return to home ice, Wayne Strachan devised a pretty foolproof plan to get his Fort Frances Lakers out of their doldrums.
Score early, score lots, and don’t forget to look after one’s own goalie.
For the most part, the Lakers followed their head coach’s plan to the letter—lighting up a pair of SIJHL newcomers in net to post back-to-back weekend wins.
The squad rode a five-goal first period en route to an 8-0 pounding of the Minnesota Iron Rangers on Friday at the Ice For Kids Arena, then jumped ahead 5-0 before allowing a pair of late power-play goals in beating the Dryden GM Ice Dogs 5-2 the next night.
The revitalized Lakers also held onto their No. 7 spot in the CJHL’s latest top 20 weekly rankings.
But they will have to do without the SIJHL’s top-scoring defenceman for one game after Nick Minerva was suspended by the league for getting a match penalty and game misconduct for spearing Dryden’s Nic Noseworthy with 1:10 left in the third period.
“We added something through the Dryden game [a 4-2 loss there last Wednesday] and even more in [last] Thursday’s practice, and the team responded well,” noted Strachan.
“We needed to come out and do what we do—jump on teams early and play our style of game,” he stressed.
The Lakers (27-6-0-1) made an unfavourable first impression Friday against recently-acquired Iron Rangers’ goalie Anthony Pupplo, who was pulled before the first intermission.
Andrew Willner began his hat-trick night with the first of three power-play goals for a Lakers’ unit that had gone just 3-for-29 in its six previous games.
The Ross brothers, Nolan and Davis, then made their impact felt in their first home game since being traded to the Lakers at the CJHL deadline on Jan. 10.
Nolan helped set up A.J. Rupert while Davis found Willner with a breakaway pass that was converted for a short-handed marker.
Minerva stuffed home a rebound of Christian Ripley’s breakaway during a man-advantage, then new Laker Matt Tustin buried a Jack Bernie centering feed just 1:32 later.
That prompted the Iron Rangers (11-19-2) to switch to veteran Kyle Carignan after Pupplo stopped only seven-of-12 shots.
“It helps the confidence a lot to get points right away with a new team,” noted Tustin, who was signed from the Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL), where he hadn’t played since being acquired from the Lindsay Muskies (OJHL) in late November.
“It’s been almost eight weeks since I played,” he added.
“[But] the guys here have made me feel at home pretty quickly.”
The only goal of the second period came on a flagrant turnover by Minnesota’s Tyler Lindstrom, who handed the puck to Nolan Ross for a 2-on-0 that ended with Rupert zipping a one-timer past Carignan.
Ryley Bosman made good on a rare power-play appearance with a spin-around shot at 18:18 of the third for a 7-0 lead before Willner capped the scoring 28 seconds later.
Brandon Bodnar turned aside all 29 shots he faced to earn his first Junior ‘A’ shutout.
On Saturday against Dryden (22-8-2-2), Cole Tymkin got the night going with a missile from the slot 1:26 into the first period against Ice Dogs’ goalie Troy Pierce, who had made 23 saves to win his SIJHL debut against the Lakers three nights earlier.
Davis Ross then blasted a power-play goal at 7:04 that was set up by his brother for his first goal as a Laker before notching another 42 seconds into the second.
Then it was Nolan’s turn to light the lamp—finishing off a feed from Minerva.
“Davis really got rolling today,” lauded Strachan. “He had two key power-play goals.
“You see the skill, the patience, and the veteran presence,” he noted.
“He’s good for our defence corps.
“Nolan doesn’t just read the ice and make plays, but he finds the holes to create scoring chances,” added Strachan.
Brandon Zajicek scored for the second game in a row two minutes into the third to get Pierce yanked in favour of Taylor Unruh.
Joe Carney finally got the Ice Dogs on the board with a screen shot from the point during a Dryden power-play at 15:07.
“I didn’t care for our third period,” fumed Strachan after his team gave up another power-play goal to Matt Houston with 31 seconds left following Minerva’s major penalty.
“We let them outwork us,” he stressed. “We got very dumb at the end with the penalties we were taking and almost let them back in the game.
“That’s not what I like to see. That’s not Lakers’ hockey.”
Pierce Dushenko, who didn’t play the previous two games after suffering a strained hip flexor a week earlier against the Thunder Bay North Stars, made 37 saves in his return.
“There wasn’t many quality scoring chances and the boys kept it to the outside,” Dushenko said.
SIJHL scoring leader Dylan Robertson had two assists in each game to give him 44 points on the season.
The Lakers played without veteran forward Dylan Kooner, who remains out indefinitely with a fractured scapula, and seasoned defenceman Robbie Bonthron, who has an appointment in the first week of February to get his broken jaw looked at.
Rookie forward Jaden Gustafson (’flu) and David Pryde (healthy scratch) also did not suit up.
Minerva will watch from the stands when the Lakers and Iron Rangers meet again here Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The Lakers then will host Thunder Bay on Tuesday night, with the North Stars having won the teams’ last three meetings and five-of-eight in the season series.
