THUNDER BAY -- There’s no love lost between the Dryden Ice Dogs and Thunder Bay North Stars.
And it was evident on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens.
With the outcome all but decided in the first five minutes of the contest, the Ice Dogs (26-10-5) scoring three times on North Stars goalie Eric Mann, the game ultimately became more about sending a post-season message to the other side.
The two teams are all but locked into a Superior International Junior Hockey League semifinal showdown next month and racked up 149 minutes in penalties in the third period alone – not to mention a between-period scuffle under the stands that led to more punches thrown.
North Stars Joe Newhouse and Bryce Martyn were both tossed for third-period scraps, along with Dryden’s Braeden Allkins, and a host of others, including two of the top goal-scorers in the league – Thunder Bay’s Joe Nigro and Ice Dogs forward Derek McPhail – had their nights end early with misconducts.
When the dust settled, it was the Ice Dogs coming out on top with the easy 7-2 victory, McPhail collecting a goal and two assists, teammate Troy Williams pitching in three helpers.
“We worked hard today with only 14 skaters. We stuck to the game plan and when you work hard, usually good things happen,” said Dryden coach Kurt Walsten, reluctant to address any of the goings on in the final 20 minutes of the one-sided contest.
North Stars coach Jeremy Adduono also danced delicately around the situation.
“I think what started it was there was a contact near our bench and unfortunately these gates open pretty easily. The gate came open, one of our players fell on their player and it kind of boiled over from there,” Adduono said.
“Players from both benches sort of met in the middle and there were some coaches there as well. I just tried to keep my guys back as best as I could. Obviously hockey’s an emotional game and when one team has a lopsided win, it often gets too emotional. But luckily it didn’t get too far out of hand.”
Mann, pulled in the second after allowing his fifth goal on 26 shots, was under attack from the drop of the puck.
McPhail, Kyle Pouncy and Nathan Avery scored less than three minutes apart to stake the Ice Dogs to a quick 3-0 lead, an advantage they’d carry into the second.
“We started off slow. We started off flat,” said North Stars forward Brad Arabia, who finally got his team on the board on the power play, 27 seconds into the second period, a puck that appeared to deflect off a Dryden stick and past goalie Troy Pierce.
“In the first five minutes they had 10 shots. We weren’t focused from puck-drop and we dug ourselves a big hole. We just kept fighting for all 60 (minutes), just trying to make that up. But we really got behind the eight-ball.”
Allkins jumped on a lazy rebound by Mann for his 15th of the year at 4:24 of the second, Matt Houston making it 5-1 midway through the frame, erasing a six-game goal-scoring drought and ending Mann’s night.
Replacement goalie Riley Corbin steadied the ship, stopping 17 of 19 shots faced. But Nic Noseworthy and Karesen Szcecinski managed to put pucks past him in the third, Thunder Bay’s Aaron Wesley-Chisel blasting home his fifth of the season with 2:11 left to play.
The Stars (21-19-4) and Ice Dogs game originally scheduled for Sunday was postponed. No official reason was given by the league.
Thunder Bay hosts Minnesota on Wednesday.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Dryden, McPhail 22 (Carney) 1:46. 2. Dryden, Pouncy 10 (Oberg) 3:17.3. Dryden, Avery 3 (McPhail, Berg) 4:29.Penalties: Ziobro DRY (interference) 7:04, Avery DRY, Thrower TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 11:51, Thrower TB (boarding) 14:33, Avery DRY (roughing double minor), Newhouse (roughing) 14:39.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Thunder Bay, Arabia 15 (Turner, Newhouse) 0:27 pp. 5. Dryden, Allkins 14 (Williams) 4:24. 6. Dryden, Houston 13 (McPhail, Avery) 10:37. Penalties:Berg DRY (interference) 0:13, Houston DRY (cross checking), Newhouse TB (spearing double minor) 5:50, Carney DRY (holding) 13:12, Berg DRY, NIgro TB (roughing) 18:07, Avery DRY (interference) 18:43, Hamlin TB (misconduct) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Dryden, Noseworthy 18 (Williams, Rooney) 0:58. 8. Dryden, Szcezcinski 3 (Williams. Oberg) 12:11 pp. 9. Thunder Bay, Wesley-Chisel (Thrower, Arabia) 17:49. Penalties: Aubin DRY (interference) 1:20, Fanti TB (interference, misconduct) 3:51, Taylor TB (checking to the head, misconduct) 4:24 , Noseworthy DRY (roughing), Taylor TB (roughing, misconduct) 4:24, Allkins (fighting major, game misconduct), McPhail DRY (roughing, misconduct), Avery DRY (misconduct) Nigro TB (roughing, misconduct), Fortin TB (misconduct), Newhouse TB (high sticking, fighting major, game misconduct) 10:16, Aubin DRY (charging), Martyn TB (high sticking) 13:28, Rooney DRY (goaltender interference) 16:12, Hamlin TB (roughing) 16:39, Oberg DRY (tripping) 16:50, Rooney DRY (misconduct), Tighe TB (misconduct), Martyn TB (fighting major, misconduct)
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 17-0-0-45, Thunder Bay 9-0-0-29; Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (0-5), Thunder Bay (1-5); Goaltenders – Dryden: Troy Pierce, Thunder Bay: Eric Mann (26 shots, 21 saves), Riley Corbin (10:37, second) A: N/A
