Staff
A power play with a short circuit caused the Fort Frances Lakers to have their night end with an unpleasant shock.
Nicholas Nigro’s tally with 2:32 to go lifted the host Thunder Bay North Stars to a 3-2 victory last night.
With the loss, the Lakers (10-5-1) saw its lead over the second-place North Stars (9-5) shrink to three points.
Thunder Bay also holds two games in hand.
The hosts led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Cashern Tighe and Ryan Walsh (power play) before the Lakers came alive in the second.
Miles Nolan connected with the man-advantage 37 seconds into the frame.
Luke Galatiuk then tied it at 15:10 with his first goal in six games as a Laker as Fort Frances outshot Thunder Bay 16-7 in the frame.
But the Lakers ended the night only 1-for-6 on the power play, and let a glorious opportunity slip away in the second when they had a two-man advantage for 1:44.
The North Stars then picked up their game in the third.
Lakers’ goalie Devin Tappenden fell to 4-4 for the season with the loss.
Eric Mann made 29 saves to earn the win.
The Lakers played without SIJHL leading scorer Colton Spicer (22 points), who sat out due to his second suspension of the season.
After just returning last weekend from a three-game suspension, Spicer was handed a one-game one after being assessed a gross misconduct during the Lakers’ 5-3 loss to the Dryden GM Ice Dogs on Saturday night.
The Lakers did welcome back defenceman Max Kaercher, who had been out with a shoulder injury since Oct. 10
The squad is back in action Saturday night against the visiting Minnesota Iron Rangers.
It will be a special night at the rink as the Lakers, and hopefully their fans, will participate in the “Shine the Light” campaign.
“November is woman abuse awareness and prevention month in Ontario,” noted Lakers’ GM and head coach Wayne Strachan.
“‘Shine the Light’ is a campaign that was initiated by the London Abused Women’s Centre,” he explained, which is being sponsored locally by Riverside Community Counselling Services.
“Our community will be one of approximately 20 others in the province that will be promoting the ‘Shine the Light’ campaign,” Strachan said.
“The campaign’s signature colour is purple to represent courage, survival, and honour.”
As such, Lakers’ players will put purple tape on their sticks and socks to support the campaign.
All fans attending Saturday’s game also are encourage to wear purple.
