Joey Payeur
Chris Walby gave his team an extended standing ovation from the bench.
His players celebrated so exuberantly, one could be forgiven for looking around to see if the Bill Salonen Cup signifying SIJHL supremacy had just been awarded.
And not one member of the Minnesota Iron Rangers was about to apologize for their excitement.
Jay Routheau scored at 3:33 of overtime to give the Iron Rangers (27-12-2-4) a 4-3 win over the Fort Frances Lakers (37-6-2-2) here Saturday night.
“The guys battled hard and they had a lot to battle through tonight,” noted Walby, whose squad never led until Routheau came steaming off the left-wing boards unchecked, took a pass from behind the net from Jason Reynolds, and ripped it by Lakers’ goalie Jordan Cartney for the game-winner.
It was Routheau’s first goal of the season in his 42nd game.
“I’m proud of the boys . . . this is a game that we talked about could turn our season around,” said Walby.
“We’ve had some tough losses lately. . . .
“Our goal from here on in is to get better every night,” he added.
Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan said a big part of the loss was centered in one area.
“We had defensive breakdowns,” noted Strachan, whose team had its four-game winning streak snapped but remained No. 6 in the Canadian Junior ‘A’ Hockey League top 20 rankings this week.
“Our forward [Lucas DeBenedet] lets his man come free off the wall and he ends up scoring,” he remarked.
“But it’s live and learn.”
It was tit-for-tat as far as the Rangers were concerned, who lost a narrow 6-5 decision to the Lakers in Hoyt Lakes last Wednesday.
The Lakers had a hungry look in their eyes early in the first as Patrick Sofer one-timed Bryce Lipinski’s feed past Rangers’ goalie Alex Reichle at 6:24.
Then just 34 seconds later, Brent Aiken blazed down the left side and wired a shot past 4Reichle to make it 2-0.
But a staunch Minnesota defence then tightened its chinstraps and fended off consecutive double minors in the frame—part of a 1-for-11 performance by the Lakers’ power play.
Luck was not in the Fort’s corner during the man advantages, though, as the Lakers hit the crossbar no less than three times during their extended power-play opportunities.
“If we put those in, we bury them right there,” noted forward Bryson Jasper, whose team held a 21-5 shots advantage after the first and outshot Minnesota 57-25 overall.
In the second, the Rangers got on the board via the short-handed route when Evan Erickson finished off a 2-on-1 with A.J. Rupert by depositing Rupert’s feed behind Cartney at 8:32.
The Lakers seemed to have the momentum back when Donovan Cousineau, who returned from a nearly three-month layoff due to a knee injury the previous week in Hoyt Lakes, circled and then fired the puck past Reichle for a power-play marker at 10:30.
The hosts looked like they had scored again just over a minute later. But Tanner Fricke’s apparent goal was waved off due to the Minnesota net being off its moorings—thanks to what appeared to be some less-than-gentle persuasion from Reichle.
“From what we saw on the bench, that puck was in before [Reichle] kicked the net off,” said Jasper.
Walby preferred a diplomatic, if not entirely forthcoming, perspective on the play.
“I’m sure the referee down there making the call did his job,” Walby said with the grin of a toddler sitting in the middle of a messy kitchen who somehow gets the family dog blamed for the situation.
“That’s a big turnaround there . . . we get that one and it’s 4-1,” an unsmiling Strachan said.
Jonathon Losurdo cranked a shot from the slot past Cartney at 12:34 to cut the lead to 3-2 entering the third.
Then with the Lakers trying to hang on, Minnesota called time-out with 1:53 left and then got Reichle to the bench with 1:40 to go.
The Lakers couldn’t clear the zone and Noah Anderson wound up banging the puck past Cartney with 1:18 left for the equalizer.
Routheau stormed the Fort zone in overtime, slipping past one defender and then DeBenedet, who fell on the play.
By the time he regained his feet, Routheau was home-free and bound for Hero City.
“Jay had some big goals for us last year and for him to get his first one tonight . . . he worked so hard all night, stayed patient, and made the play when he had to,” lauded Walby.
It was somewhat of a surprise defeat for the Lakers, who were coming off one of their best efforts of the season the previous night in Thunder Bay, where they manhandled the North Stars 7-1.
“Last night [Friday] in the first period, when we had that puck moving, it was pretty to watch,” noted Strachan, whose team was up 4-0 after the initial stanza and was a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play.
“The hockey gods were a little bit on our side but we used hard work to earn it, too,” he added.
The DLM Line had its engine running on full throttle in Thunder Bay, collecting 10 points as a unit.
Lyndon Lipinski had a hat trick as part of a four-point night while DeBenedet had four helpers and Mason Meyer two.
Bryce Lipinski, Cousineau, Cam Gobeil, and Cody Wickstrom also scored while Daniel Del Paggio netted the lone goal for the Stars (31-9-1-4).
Devin Tappenden made 23 saves to earn the win.
Eric Mann, meanwhile, was yanked after yielding Cousineau’s goal at 12:15 of the first—the third Lakers’ tally on just seven shots.
Nathaniel Dupuis mopped up, making 19 saves in relief.
The Lakers are on the road tonight to face the Dryden Ice Dogs (18-24-5) before hosting a rematch against Minnesota on Friday night.
The squad then heads to Hoyt Lakes on Saturday to wrap up the season series with the Iron Rangers.
On the injury front, the Lakers hope to have forward Kevin Kurm (back) return to the lineup this weekend.
Defenceman John Dora (head) is listed as day-to-day while forward Colton Spicer (shoulder) remains out indefinitely.
