Staff
After a tight 3-1 win over the winless Sioux Lookout Flyers last Thursday, the Sabres (15-8-1) elevated their game Saturday en route to a 5-0 shutout and a sweep of their two-game road series.
Kalib Thunderchief picked up his first goal—and first fight—for the Sabres while Brendan Baumgartner, Colton Kennedy, Kyle Turgeon, and Ryan Witherspoon added singles.
Ryan Faragher made 17 saves to earn the shutout while the Sabres were credited with 49 shots on Flyers’ goalie Garrett Barr.
“We beat them to pucks in one-on-one battles, and as a team played very well,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan noted.
“Again, their goalie played well. We put 50 shots on him and he made some very nice saves throughout the game,” he stressed. “But for the most part, we dominated, tried some different things offensively, played different line combinations, and out-worked them for 60 minutes.”
The Sabres now sit third in the SIJHL standings with 31 points—one ahead of the Thunder Bay Bearcats and two behind the second-place Schreiber Diesels.
The Fort William North Stars lead the way with 35 points while the Dryden Ice Dogs are fifth with 24. The Flyers round out the standings with one point (0-22-1).
The Sabres next travel to Schreiber for back-to-back games with the Diesels this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 12-13).
“This [coming] weekend is huge,” Strachan noted. “Yes, we have taken it to Schreiber for the most part this season, but they are playing well and we know this.
“It isn’t going to be easy to go into their rink and come out with two victories,” he added. “We will take it one game at a time, but we are going into the series looking for a sweep and sole position of second place.”
