The Dryden Ice Dogs arrived about an hour late to Fort William Gardens and were slow to start out of the gate against the Thunder Bay North Stars.
On Friday night, Thunder Bay’s Nicholas Nigro was ready and waiting.
Nigro, the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s leading goal-scorer, potted a pair of goals in the opening 4:11, chasing Dryden goalie Taylor Unruh who faced just two shots. Nigro would complete the hat trick in the second on replacement Troy Pierce, but in the end it was the Ice Dogs who skated away with a 5-4 shootout win.
Dryden's Nathan Avery sent the game to overtime, tying the game midway through the third, and sniper Derek McPhail won it with the only goal of the shootout.
“I can’t explain what happened out there or why it happened,” Dryden coach Kurt Walsten said of his starter’s less-than-stellar start
“But it’s a big bounce back for us after that. Maybe the bus had something to do with it, but the whole team had to go through that.”
Three times the Ice Dogs rallied back to tie the game, delayed an hour because of bus troubles that kept the Dryden squad from hitting the road on time.
Walsten said the turning point for his team was killing a 1:40 power play to start the overtime period. The North Stars peppered replacement goalie Troy Pierce with shots, but he stood tall and got his team to the penalty-shot contest.
“Once that happened, we knew we were going to get the W here,” Walsten said. “For us it was a big character win. We’ve got a lot of injuries right now. We’ve got the flu bug going through and have our suspensions.”
North Stars coach Jeremy Adduono labeled it a game that got away especially after their hot start against a team that has given Thunder Bay trouble most of the season.
“I thought we had a great start, for sure. We came out flying with the first two goals. I think the thing that killed us tonight, whenever we got any kind of momentum, we made some easy mistakes, a couple of fundamental mistakes that changed the course of the game,” Adduono said.
After Nigro’s opening pair the Ice Dogs cut their deficit in half, Braeden Allkins cashing in on a Max Fortin giveaway deep in Thunder Bay territory. Braedyn Aubin tied the game on the power play 8:11 into the second, rifling it past Riley Corbin, the first of three times Dryden would net the equalizer.
Nigro netted his third of the night – and 27th of the year – at 11:08 of the second, his goal also coming with the man advantage. But 14 seconds later the game was tied again, courtesy of assistant captain Troy Williams. Christian Ward put the North Stars in front a third time before the middle frame ended, but Avery knotted things up 4-4 in the third.
Nigro, Kris Hamlin and Brad Arabia all missed for the Stars in the shootout, firing awry on Pierce, who stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in relief.
The two teams meet again on Saturday night.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Nigro 25 (Turner, Newhouse) 1:30. 2. Thunder Bay, Nigro 26 (Martyn, Corbin) 4:11. 3. Dryden, Allkins (unassisted) 6:15. Penalties: Glowatch TB (elbowing) 6:47 Smaha DRY (holding, roughing) 9:27, Hamlin TB (slashing) 17:33, Smaha DRY, Corness TB (fighting majors, game misconducts) 19:59.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: Dryden, Aubin (Allkins, McPhail) 8:11 pp. 5. Thunder Bay, Nigro 27 (Arabia, Turner) 11:08 pp. 6. Dryden, Williams (Avery) 11:22. 7. Thunder Bay, Ward (Martyn, Wesley-Chisel) 12:48. Penalties: Carney DRY (elbowing) 2:56, Fortin TB (holding the stick) 6:40, Houston DRY (roughing) 10:30, Tighe TB (spearing double minor) 18:28.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. Dryden, Avery (Noseworthy) 10:22. Penalties: Oberg DRY (boarding) 7:16, Oberg DRY (slashing, roughing) Fanti TB (cross checking, roughing) 9:56, McPhail DRY (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct, Newhouse TB (holding, roughing) 10:11, Wesley-Chisel TB (cross checking) 11:05, Houston DRY (interference), Noseworthy DRY (misconduct) 12:40, Avery DRY (slashing) 19:40.
OVERTIME
Scoring: None: Penalties: Fortin TB, Carney DRY (holding) 4:25.
SHOOTOUT
TB: Nigro (miss)
DRY: McPhail (goal)
TB: Hamlin (miss)
DRY: Aubin (miss)
TBL: Arabia (miss)
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 14-23-8-2-47, Thunder Bay 7-10-13-3-33; Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (1-5), Thunder Bay (1-8); Goaltenders – Dryden: Taylor Unruh (2 shots, 0 saves), Trevor Pierce (4:11, first period), Thunder Bay: Riley Corbin; A: 274.
