Just when it looked like the band would play all night, Nathan Daly struck the final chord—and left the Borderland Thunder singing the blues.
Daly converted a pass across the crease from Pierre Landry at 18:52 of the second overtime period to give the North Bay Skyhawks a 6-5 comeback victory at the Ice for Kids Arena here last night.
With a third extra session seemingly inevitable, the Skyhawks hit paydirt when the puck found its way onto Landry’s stick at the side of the Thunder net.
The Calgary native tapped the puck over to Daly, who stretched out his stick and raised the puck over sprawled Thunder goalie Dan Hoehne into the yawning cage.
The Skyhawks, winners of the Northern Ontario Junior ‘A’ Hockey League, stumbled early and late, but had enough to claw back twice against the SIJHL champs.
The host Thunder showed no fear of their nationally top-10 ranked opponent in the first period, carrying the play while coming away with a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.
A.J. Tucker pounced on the rebound from a Josh Baxter shot and slid the puck past North Bay goalie Luke Oshell at 1:48 of the opening period.
Ryan McKee tied it at 11:04 when he kept the puck on a two-on-one and rifled one through the five hole of Hoehne. But Matt Johnson’s nifty backhand pass from behind the net was tucked home by Aaron Grynol to put the Thunder back on top.
Johnson then cashed in on a power play at 15:32 to make it 3-1, but special teams turned around and bit the Thunder as Jerome Briere’s shorthanded marker with 14 seconds left in the frame cut Borderland’s lead in half.
Pat Honeysett blistered a shot from just inside the Thunder blueline for the lone goal of the second at 9:07 to even the contest as the Skyhawks started to build momentum.
They then took the lead on Landry’s power-play goal at 2:22 of the third, but a mid-period burst by the Thunder wrenched control of the game away from North Bay.
Johnson set up Grynol in almost an instant replay of their first-period goal to tie the game at 13:21. Then 24 seconds later, “Critter” Nagurski charged down the left wing in full flight, swept to the middle, and lifted the puck over Oshell to send the towel-waving packed house into a frenzy as the Thunder grabbed a 5-4 lead.
But the best teams get the breaks, and in the case of the tying goal, that was proven in a literal sense.
Chad Baldwin’s clearing attempt from the Thunder zone went awry when the blade of his stick snapped off during the shot. As such, North Bay kept the puck in at the point and, eventually, Briere batted a bouncing puck past Hoehne at 15:55 to square the affair once again.
The first 10-minute overtime was devoid of any outstanding chances for either side, but the Skyhawks started to exert their will on the Thunder early in the second.
Hoehne had to make two miraculous stops only a minute into the second extra period, sweeping his pads forward in time to deny a point-blank opportunity and then snagging the rebound attempt at the last second.
Most of the period was played in the Thunder’s half of the rink, although the home side had a glorious chance to win it when North Bay was ticketed for too many men on the ice at 13:55 of the period.
But the Skyhawks killed off the penalty, and minutes later, Daly brought an end to the four-hour marathon.
The Thunder (0-1) now will try to re-energize themselves in time for when they face the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League champion Wellington Dukes (1-0)—the country’s No. 1-ranked squad—at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Ice for Kids Arena.
North Bay will get even less rest before tangling with the Bulldogs (0-1) at 2:30 p.m. today.
Borderland closes the round-robin portion against the Thunder Bay KC Bulldogs tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. while Wellington and North Bay meet in the 2:30 p.m. contest.
The semi-final, involving the second- and third-place finishers in the round robin, goes Friday at 7:30 p.m., with the winner of that game moving on to play the first-place finisher Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
