Joey Payeur
Nolan Ross has got some superb breakaway skills.
He’s not bad at deflections, either, be they pucks or praise.
The Fort Frances native scored the only goal of the shootout to give the host Lakers a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Iron Rangers on Saturday night at the Ice For Kids Arena.
“Getting a shootout goal is always good, but what matters is the team getting two points,” stressed the 20-year-old forward, whose arrival at the CJHL trade deadline, along with twin brother and defenceman, Davis Ross, has sparked the Lakers to a three-game winning streak.
“I just watched our first two shooters [Dylan Robertson and Roshen Jaswal], and they just shot and it didn’t work,” he noted.
“So I decided to hold onto it a bit longer, fake, and go to the backhand.”
The move spoiled the end of what was a terrific week for Iron Rangers’ goalie Anthony Pupplo, who was named the SIJHL’s player-of-the-week after registering back-to-back wins over the English River Miners before stopping 40 shots through regulation and overtime against the Lakers
It was a much improved performance for Pupplo, who was chased to the bench by the Lakers when he gave up five goals before the first period was over in an 8-0 loss on Jan. 15.
Fort Frances (28-6-0-1) remained at No. 7 in the CJHL’s latest top 20 weekly rankings, with the Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) retaining top spot.
But it took a rejuvenated effort in the third period to put the Lakers in position to come out on top after a lacklustre first 40 minutes had them trailing 2-1 against Minnesota (13-19-2-1), which has won only once in 11 tries against Fort Frances this season.
“We talked after the first and second [periods] and knew we weren’t anywhere near our best,” said Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“We came off a big win the last time against them and had players trying to do too much on their own,” he noted.
“But in the third, we had a good hard work ethic, pressured them like we’re capable of, and started zipping the puck around.
“Only playing 20 minutes of hockey is not good, but we managed to get it into the shootout and ‘Bods’ came up big and Nolan had a big goal to get us the two points,” Strachan said.
After the previous weekend when eight glorious scoring chances for him went for nought, Robertson looked still to be cursed in the first period Saturday when he backhanded his breakaway rush well over the net.
But the SIJHL’s co-leader in scoring (45 points) finally got the monkey off his back later in the first when a good forecheck by Julian Uhryniuk led to the puck being centered to Robertson, who popped the water bottle with a perfect shot to the top corner.
“Robertson’s been snakebitten, although it’s not like he hasn’t had the opportunities,” said Strachan.
“If he wasn’t getting the opportunities, I’d be worried.
“He’s been gripping the stick a little too tight but this is a good sign, and will hopefully get him back to playing his game,” Strachan added.
The lead could have been more but three Laker power plays came up empty—and the Iron Rangers capitalized in the second.
With Ryan Gazinch (interference) and Ryley Bosman (slashing) in the box, Minnesota made the most of having more than a minute of 5-on-3 power-play time by scoring twice.
Bodnar never saw Alex Mimmack’s shot thanks to a textbook screen put up by Dan Sarnecki to tie the game.
Just 32 seconds later, Eric Madison’s blast from just inside the Lakers’ blueline eluded Bodnar to give the visitors the lead.
The Lakers’ power-play woes finally evaporated just eight seconds into its six chance of the night.
With Tyler Lindstrom off for holding, Matt Tustin won the draw to Jaswal, who moved to the top of the face-off circle before rocketing a wrist shot past Pupplo glove side.
“We were really having trouble with our break-outs on the power-play,” noted Lakers’ forward A.J. Rupert.
“We needed to fight through the adversity because none of the bounces were going our way.”
Following a scoreless overtime, Bodnar first stopped Dalton Johnson and former Laker John Cuni in the shootout.
Then after Ross scored, he stymied Austin Ramirez to end the game.
The Lakers now have gone more than three-straight games without giving up an even-strength goal—a result of their diligent work in practice.
“Whether it’s a 1-on-1 battle drill or something we do 5-on-5, we want to concentrate on taking care of our own zone,” said Strachan.
The squad again was without forward Dylan Kooner (fractured scapula) and defenceman Robbie Bonthron (broken jaw), who both remain out indefinitely although Bonthron is aiming to be back within two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Lakers began their busiest part of the schedule last night as the annual “SIJHL Showcase” got underway down in Hoyt Lakes, Mn.
Fort Frances squared off against the Thunder Bay North Stars (score unavailable at press time).
Then they’ll look to defend the SIJHL’s honour tonight when they clash with the Cochrane Crunch (NOJHL), who are right behind the Lakers in the CJHL rankings at No. 8.
“Cochrane’s one of the top teams in not only Northern Ontario but the nation,” said Strachan.
“It’s a pride game in my view . . . we’re playing for the SIJHL and we want to prove our team deserves to be mentioned as one of the top teams in the CJHL, too,” he added.
“We’re going to have a lot of people watching and we can do a lot of good for ourselves.”
The Lakers then will meet English River tomorrow to conclude the “Showcase.”
