The Borderland Thunder went from fight night to fright night, but still came away with a valuable four points over the weekend in their quest to clinch first place in the SIJHL.
A 6-1 victory here Friday night over the Feathermen Hawks featured an eight-player brawl at the 12:02 mark of the third period that even saw goalies Jamie Munro and Chris Lauzon duke it out at centre ice.
With the subsequent ejections for fighting, combined with a later injury to defenceman Eric Robin, the Hawks played the last four minutes of the game with only eight skaters.
“Critter” Nagurski scored both a power-play and a shorthanded goal to pace the Thunder (29-9-5-2) while Clayton Windigo, Ryan Sinclair, Chris Shaen, and Ian Lockman added singles.
Nathan Blackwater’s power-play marker for the Hawks (10-33-1-4) against Dan Hoehne, who replaced the departed Munro, spoiled the shutout bid.
Saturday night’s game proved less eventful in the fisticuffs department, but more exciting than the Thunder would have liked against a team they now have beaten 10 times in their 12 meetings this season.
The Hawks looked to have salvaged at least a point when Evan Barley’s second goal of the game at 16:07 of the third tied the score at 2-2. But Josh McAndrew batted home the winner at 18:12 to give the Thunder their third win over the Hawks in an eight-day span.
Sinclair and Matt Johnson also tallied as the Thunder outshot the Hawks 38-23.
The Thunder return to action Wednesday night as they head to Dryden to play the Ice Dogs in a third-consecutive mid-week meeting between the two squads.
Their next home game is Tuesday, March 4 when those same Ice Dogs come to town.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
