Lucas Punkari
The quick start Fort Frances Lakers’ head coach Wayne Strachan was looking for from his troops was evident early on last night.
But when push came to shove in the closing minutes, his squad headed in the opposite direction.
James Kline’s go-ahead marker with less than three minutes to go was the decisive blow as the visiting Wisconsin Wilderness won 4-3 to draw first blood in the second leg of their two-game, total-goal first-round series with the Lakers.
The regular-season champs took the first leg in Spooner by a combined 6-3 score—despite the Lakers winning the opening game 3-2 last Friday night.
“Our goal was to have a better first period, but to also put together a strong 60 minutes, and I’m not sure that we did that,” Strachan admitted.
“In the third period, I’m not sure if it was fatigue, I sure hope it wasn’t, but there was just a lack of effort on our part,” he stressed.
“We made too many turnovers and they [Wisconsin] are just too good of a team to give second and third opportunities to.”
Kline’s game-winner was especially big after a shot he took near the midway point of the third period was ruled to have not gone in even though the goal light went off.
“They [the on-ice officials] told me afterwards that it had actually gone off the padding on the right side of the goal post, and that the goal judge wasn’t totally sure if the puck had actually crossed the goal line,” Kline noted.
“I was pretty determined to score again right after that, and my line mate [Derek] Tylka made a pass that bounced off of [Lakers’ goalie Tyler] Ampe’s pad that led to the goal,” he recalled.
“It might not have been the prettiest goal in the world, but when you get into those situations it’s all about just grinding your way through it,” Kline reasoned.
Tylka, Wilson Housley, and Austin Adduono led the Wilderness on offence with a goal and an assist each.
At the other end of the ice, goalie John McLean withstood a first-period barrage from the Lakers to help give his team the win.
“The win’s obviously nice to get, but we made it a bit harder on ourselves tonight,” Wilderness coach Rod Aldoff remarked.
“We didn’t come out to play right off the start like we usually do, and if we need to make sure that we don’t do the same thing [tonight[ if we want to win the series,” he stressed.
Henry Gutierrez, Byron Katapaytuk, and Tyler Stevenson scored for the Lakers, who now find themselves in a must-win situation heading into the 7:30 p.m. face-off for Game 2 at the Ice For Kids Arena.
If the Lakers win tonight’s game by a single goal, a shootout will decide the winner of the second leg of the series.
If the Lakers win that shootout, another shootout will follow to determine the overall series winner.
An overall shootout to determine the series winner would take place if the Lakers win tonight’s game by two or more goals.
The series winner then gets to choose their second-round opponent.
In other SIJHL playoff action, the Sioux Lookout Flyers kept their playoffs hopes alive thanks to a 2-1 overtime triumph over the defending league champ Thunder Bay North Stars in Game 4 of their quarter-final series.
Jacob Brown netted the game-winner at the 4:16 mark of the extra frame to give the Flyers’ franchise its first-ever post-season victory.
The win cut the North Stars’ series lead to 3-1 heading into Game 5 tomorrow night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
As previously reported, Dryden swept Duluth in their best-of-seven quarter-final series.
