Sabres earn win, tie

The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres fought throughout a pair of games with the Marathon Renegades here over the weekend to win just their second-ever series.
The Sabres kept pace with Marathon on Friday night, never trailing but needing an overtime frame to seal their 7-6 victory.
However, it was a much different story Saturday, with the Sabres falling behind 5-1 in the first period before battling back to earn a 6-6 tie.
“It’s definitely good,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said. “We talked about this weekend turning around our season. Three out of four [points] is pretty good.”
While the Renegades earned a point for each game for getting to overtime both nights, the Sabres’ one win vaulted them ahead of Marathon in the standings.
The two teams came into the weekend tied in points, though Marathon still has three games in hand on Fort Frances.
The Sabres stayed one step ahead of the Renegades on Friday night but no further—spending just under half the game leading by one goal or tied.
Marathon kept the contest close, scoring within a minute of a Fort Frances goal on two occasions before squaring the game late in the third period.
Matthew York capitalized on a power play to seal the deal in overtime.
Marathon then came out the gate a more driven team on Saturday, building a 5-1 lead in the first period thanks, in part, to some suspect play by Sabres’ goalie Ryan Faragher, who was pulled with less than six minutes left in the period.
Strachan put Faragher back out in the second and he responded with some of his best play in a Sabres’ uniform—stopping 24 of 25 shots in the remaining two periods and the overtime.
York again was the hero for Fort Frances, netting a hat trick and also assisting on the tying goal.
The forward admitted he, himself, wasn’t sure what to attribute his strong play to. “I don’t know, it just came natural today,” York remarked. “Tried my best to put ’em in, and I did.”
Strachan said York and Faragher, along with forwards Brock Owen and Quinn Amiel in particular, showed their mettle by coming back full force in the second and third periods in a game that seemed lost on the scoreboard, registering points that seemed meaningless until late in the game.
“Those are things you look for, and it was an all-character comeback tonight,” he said after Saturday’s game.
The Sabres will have a tough time retaining their new fifth place in the rankings, having to face the Fort William North Stars this coming weekend.
The North Stars have fallen to third in the SIJHL standings, but remain ninth in the national CJAHL top 15.
The Sabres have reason to hope, however. In their two previous games this season, Fort Frances lost by manageable scores of 6-4 and 6-5 in overtime.
“It’s hard to play against them [Fort William] when they’re nationally ranked, but I think we can step up against any team in this league,” York said.