Lucas Punkari
The Fort Frances Lakers won the battle Friday night at the Ice For Kids Arena, but in the end they lost the war.
Despite beating the Wisconsin Wilderness 6-2, which allowed the Lakers to take the second leg of their two-game, total-goal series by a 9-6 count, the home squad lost the ensuing tie-breaking shootout by a 2-1 margin.
That gave the Wilderness the first-round series victory and the chance to choose their semi-final opponent.
“Our game plan was to just be in their face physically, get pucks deep, and get our cycle going if we were to have a chance of being successful,” Lakers’ head coach and GM Wayne Strachan said.
“We found a way to get the job done, which was good to see, and I think, as a team, that was one of the better games that we’ve played in about a month,” he noted.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t finish them off in the shootout, but we’re still going to be facing a good team in the next round no matter what,” Strachan stressed.
The Lakers’ semi-final opponent will be the third-seeded Dryden Ice Dogs as the Wilderness, the regular-season champs, chose to face the fourth-seeded Thunder Bay North Stars in their semi-final showdown.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” said Lakers’ captain Tyler Stevenson.
“If we play like we did here tonight [Friday], and if we stick to our game plan, we’re not going to beaten the rest of the way,” he pledged.
Stevenson and Dan Smith led the way offensively in Friday night’s win with a goal and an assist each while defenceman Josh Scott had a pair of helpers.
Henry Gutierrez, Byron Katapaytuk, Jon Sinclair, and Blake Boaz also scored while Tyler Ampe made 34 saves between the pipes to earn the game’s first star honours.
Wilson Housley and James Kline replied for the Wilderness .
But with the series on the line in the shootout, Wisconsin captain Keith Tessin and SIJHL rookie-of-the-year Austin Adduono both solved Ampe to give their team the victory.
“It’s pretty strange to win a game but end up losing the series,” noted Stevenson, who scored the Lakers’ lone goal in the shootout.
“We played pretty good in regulation, but we just couldn’t bury it in the shootout when we needed to,” he added.
“This was big for our confidence, though, and it’s a big statement for the rest of the playoffs as we’ll probably see them [Wisconsin] again if we want to the title,” Stevenson reasoned.
The SIJHL has yet to announce the dates and times of the semi-finals but Strachan said he expects their best-of-seven showdown with Dryden to get underway here Friday night.
