It’s not how long you’re in front, it’s when you get there.
The Borderland Thunder never led the host Dryden Ice Dogs on Wednesday night until A.J. Tucker tallied at 1:36 of overtime to give the SIJHL front-runners a 3-2 victory over the defending league champs.
David Lloyd rushed the puck into the Ice Dogs’ zone and after some effective forechecking, the puck found its way to Tucker out front, who wired the game-winning shot through traffic for his ninth goal of the season.
The victory stretched the Thunder’s lead to five points over the Ice Dogs in the standings. It was the team’s third-straight win, and improved their road record to 6-2-1 this season.
The Thunder are now 13-4-3-1 while the Ice Dogs sit at 12-8-1.
“It was just another example of when they work hard and skate, they’re tough to play against,” Thunder head coach Dave Allison said about his team, who outshot Dryden 45-23 to beat the Ice Dogs for the second-straight time.
The Thunder fought back from a pair of one-goal deficits, with Ian Lockman scoring his fourth of the year to tie the game 1-1 in the second period and Chad Baldwin notching his sixth with a shorthanded effort midway through the third.
Dan Hoehne started his fourth-straight game between the pipes for the Thunder, boosting his record to 5-1 to go along with his league-best .926 save percentage.
The Thunder wrap up their current five-game road swing with a two-game set against the Thunder Bay KC Bulldogs (11-6-1-1) tomorrow and Saturday night.
“The Bulldogs are playing the best of anybody right now [7-2-1 in their last 10 games],” said Allison. “They’re physical, they’ve got good goaltending, and they’ve got a full complement of players.”
The short-staffed Thunder, with only 15 healthy skaters right now, may have some extra help against the Bulldogs.
Dallas Mosbeck, who collected six goals and 24 points in 47 games with the Thunder last season, may rejoin the team this weekend, said Allison.
Mosbeck has been training for his pilot’s licence in Steinbach, Man. through the first part of this season, but Allison said he believed the forward’s flying commitments were finished for the time being.
Allison also announced the Thunder was putting the final touches on a trade that would send goalie D’arcy Munro to an unidentified team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for a player to be named later.
“D’arcy’s a good goalie, he just needs a chance to play,” noted Allison. “He’s got family in Winnipeg, too.”
The departure of Munro, who posted a 2-2-1 record with a 3.89 goals against average for the Thunder, leaves Jamie Munro (4-1, 3.40 GAA) as the team’s No. 2 netminder.
The Thunder’s next home games are slated Dec. 13-14 against the Bulldogs at the Ice for Kids Arena.