Dan Falloon
The word “streak” has been a dirty utterance around the Fort Frances Lakers so far this season.
But the local SIJHL squad is doing its best to make the word a welcome one after their 3-1 victory Saturday night over the visiting Wisconsin Mustangs gave them consecutive wins for just the second time.
The Lakers (10-24-4) had beaten the Sioux Lookout Flyers 4-3 here last Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing skid.
On Saturday, the Lakers and Mustangs battled through a scoreless first period in which Fort Frances outshot the visitors 14-9.
Cody Hasbargen had arguably the best scoring chance of the opening frame, electing to keep on a 2-on-1 that forced Mustangs’ goalie Jeff Dunaisky into making a flashy glove save.
The Lakers finally opened the scoring 6:31 into the second when Justin Erhart dug the puck out of a crowded crease and slid it past Dunaisky.
It was Erhart’s second goal in as many games, giving him five on the season.
Fort Frances then made it 2-0 with just three seconds left in the period when Matt Caulfield tapped in a loose puck after a goalmouth scramble.
The power-play marker was Caulfield’s third point in the past two games, and his second goal since being traded to the Lakers from the Dryden Ice Dogs earlier this month.
The Lakers wrapped things up midway through the third.
Hasbargen was driven into the corner by the Mustang defence, but he threw a backhanded seeing-eye pass out front to captain Tyler Stevenson, who wired a no-doubter past Dunaisky into the open cage to pump the lead to 3-0.
Stevenson’s 13th of the season was the Lakers’ second power-play goal of the game.
As the third period wound down, all the suspense that remained was whether Lakers’ goalie TJ Pocock could hold on to earn the shutout.
It was not to be, however, as the Mustangs spoiled the bid with less than two minutes to go when Ian Jensen beat Pocock from in close on the power play.
The Mustangs then pressed to inch closer but could not find any other cracks in Pocock’s armour.
The win was Pocock’s first of the season in just his third start. He was chased after three goals in 20 minutes in an 8-0 loss to Dryden back on Oct. 27 and played all 60 minutes in a 5-3 loss to Sioux Lookout on Nov. 12.
The Lakers finished two-for-four on the power-play—the first time they’d scored more than once with the man advantage since an 8-3 loss to Fort William on Jan. 8.
The Lakers last won consecutive games on Oct. 30 and Nov. 3, when they beat Wisconsin 4-1 there before returning home to bounce Sioux Lookout 4-2.
A chance to extend their winning string to a season-high three games will face a tough test tomorrow night when the Lakers host the second-place Ice Dogs (30-5-5) at 7:30 p.m.
