Thunder in driver’s seat after OT win

Aaron Boyer started the play, and it was Derek Fisher who finished it.
In the second overtime of Game 2 here Saturday afternoon here, Boyer side-stepped a Dryden Ice Dogs defender to break into their zone, but then had trouble being able to get a shot off.
So the puck roamed over to the boards, and that’s where Fisher placed himself.
Fisher, a defenceman who had five goals and 18 assists during the regular season, decided to pinch in on the play and then proceeded to put the puck out in front of the net.
It was a weak shot as Fisher had to pull the puck in from behind him and looked awkward with his release. But Dryden’s goalie looked even more awkward as he let the puck slip by him after it touched his own defender.
“I just followed the rush . . . and I was skating towards the corner and I had to shoot it across my body to get it in front,” Fisher said afterwards of his game-winning goal.
“I just wanted to put it out on net and create some chances,” he added.
“Boyer just battled to stay with the puck, and that was the thing I really saw, and ‘Fish’ just got the puck on net and it was great to see when he scored,” noted Thunder head coach Dave Allison.
Fisher’s goal, after 73:30 minutes had been played, sparked his 19 teammates to tackle him in celebration.
“I’ve been in a couple of swarms,” said Thunder defenceman Kurt Hogard, who is the team’s captain. “But this one came out of nowhere. It was like, hockey, hockey, hockey, hey, we won, it’s over, swarm—and those are the best ones.”
The Thunder now hold a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven semi-final against the Ice Dogs, with the series now switching to Dryden for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Saturday.
Game 5, if necessary, would be back in Fort Frances.
Dryden had forced overtime by tying the score at 1-1 with 5:05 left in regulation time.
After a scoreless first period, Tyler Barker put the Thunder on the board midway through the second period on a nicely-placed wrist shot that went top shelf.
Riley Dudar assisted on the play.
“I thought Dryden came out and really played harder than us, especially in the first period, and we were lucky to get out of there 0-0,” said Allison.
In that first period, the Thunder managed only two shots while Dryden took 13 on Tyler Gordon, who looked sharp all day but conceded he was close to exhaustion by the end of the game.
(Gordon had missed almost a month of action heading into the playoffs due to a low platelet count that he still is being treated for).
But the Thunder turned the tables in the second as they took 21 shots while holding the Ice Dogs to just one, but only Barker was able to capitalize.
The third period was a chippy affair, with nine penalties handed out, including 10-minute misconducts to Dennis Morrison and Ian Lockman of the Thunder.
And the game really shouldn’t have gone into overtime as the Thunder had an array of good scoring chances, but Dryden goalie Shaun Szachury played well.
A 10-minute sudden death overtime took place right after regulation time expired, then a much-needed intermission was given. And that break was put to good use as the Thunder scored only 3:30 into the second overtime frame to win 2-1.
“It seems like it’s always somebody new that steps up, but we always have our vets helping out and everybody played awesome tonight,” said Fisher, who saw his team take a total of 49 shots while Dryden managed 27.
Morrison got the game-winning goal in a 3-1 Thunder win in the series opener here last Thursday.
“We’re in the driver’s seat right now, but they’re going to throw everything they have at us in Game 3, but we’ll be ready for them,” said Fisher.
In related news, the first-place Fort William First Nation North Stars swept the fourth-place K&A Golden Hawks in their best-of-seven semi-final and now will await to play the winner of the Thunder-Dryden series.