The Borderland Thunder took over first place in the inaugural Superior International Junior Hockey League after going undefeated on the weekend in Thunder Bay.
The Thunder beat the Bulldogs 4-1 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday before the Feathermen Hawks rallied with a late goal Sunday to earn a 3-3 tie.
Hawks’ defenceman Wesley Trapper sneaked in from the point and lifted a wrist shot past Thunder goalie Tom Iwaniec with just over 90 seconds to play.
Matt Johnson netted two goals in the first period while Kevin Webb tallied on the power play when the Thunder enjoyed a two-man advantage late in the second period.
Charly Washipabano and Marcus Hardy also scored for the Hawks
“For this being our third game in three days, I thought [we] came out with a lot of intensity and, for the most part, played for the entire 60 minutes,” said Thunder head coach Wayne Strachan, whose team now sits at 4-1-1 and one point up on the Dryden Icedogs in the SIJHL standings.
In earlier weekend action, Johnson, Webb, Steven King, and Tyler Barker scored in the first period to spark Friday’s win against the Bulldogs.
Then they came back from an early two-goal deficit to nip the Bulldogs on the strength of two power-play goals in the third period of Saturday’s game.
Kyle Prystupa, Johnson, and Webb (two) scored for the Thunder in that game. Goalies Jason Flatt and Chris Cain earned the Friday and Saturday victories, respectively.
The Thunder now turn their attention to their home opener–a pair of games this Friday and Saturday against the Thunder Bay Bulldogs. Game time is 7:30 both nights.
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