THUNDER BAY – A solid night of goaltending from rookie Jordan Elliott was just what the Thunder Bay North Stars needed.
With their offence sputtering, authors of just six goals in four straight losses heading into Wednesday night’s home-ice tilt against the Fort Frances Lakers, the North Stars had to find a way to keep the puck out the net.
Of late that’s been easier said than done.
The Stars (25-13-3) had allowed 24 goals in the four defeats, an average of six per night, and had the once-mighty Superior International Junior Hockey League squad looking over its shoulder, its stranglehold on second place suddenly in danger.
Enter Elliott, who stood tall against the fifth-place Lakers (18-17-5), stopping all 30 shots he faced to pick up his first career shutout, leading Thunder Bay to a 4-0 win, their first since Jan. 18, a 6-1 win over the Lakers.
“It’s huge to get a win, especially after losing four straight and losing eight of the last 10, or whatever,” said Elliott, a native of Fargo, N.D. who joined the North Stars after the 2016-17 campaign was already under way.
“It feels really good. It’s nice to get (the shutout) out of the way.”
Elliott, who boasts the second-best save percentage in the league, said it was an overall team effort that led to the victory and helped him keep the puck out of the net.
“They were just helping clear guys out in front so I could see the puck and clearing out rebounds, back-checking and just giving a 100 per cent effort,” he said.
North Stars coach Jeremy Adduono said his team needed the two points desperately and it started from the net out.
“I thought Jordan had a great night. He was seeing pucks, he was controlling rebounds and doing a good job recovering after first shots. He made good saves for us at key times to sort of keep us in the game, keep our energy going,” Adduono said.
“Lately it’s been a bit of a problem. We’ve had a hard time keeping pucks out and a hard time scoring at the same time, kind of both things happening at once. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks, but we’ll take the positives out of tonight and hopefully keep getting better."
It took the offence a little while to get going, neither team finding the back of the net in the opening period.
Tyler Minoletti was first to strike, firing a quick low wrist shot off a drop pass from Jett Leishman that rocketed past Fort Frances goalie Jessie Heisz at 5:28 of the middle stanza.
Elliott made big stops on Brett Pickler and Matt Tustin to keep the North Stars in front, then Brad Thrower doubled the lead with just three-tenths of a second left in the period, the shorthanded goal the result of a 2-on-1 with Troy Sherman.
Thunder Bay would add two more in the third, the goals by Brad Arabia and Jake Robinson coming 52 seconds apart, just past the midway point of the period.
“It’s like quicksand, once you lose, it’s hard to get out of,” Adduono said, explaining his team’s recent slide. “But we know we’re a good team. We’re the same team that put together eight- and 10-game winning streaks and we’re confident we’ll get better as we go down the stretch.”
The North Stars host Dryden for a pair on Friday and Saturday night at Fort William Gardens.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Minoletti TB (roughing) 15:37.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Minoletti 7 (Leishman, Wesley-Chisel) 5:28. 2. Thunder Bay, Thrower 14 (Sherman, Walsh) 19:59 sh. Penalties: Wesley-Chisel TB (cross checking) 13:02, Parrott FF (cross checking) 18:05.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay, Arabia 20 (Newhouse, Parrott) 12:13. 4. Thunder Bay, Robinson 11 (Sherman, Walsh) 13:05. Penalties: Merritt FF (high sticking) 3:19, Wesley-Chisel TB (slashing) 6:44, Nigro TB (spearing, misconduct) 16:29, Gazich FF (cross checking) 7:07, Tustin FF (high sticking), Wesley-Chisel TB (roughing) 18:56,
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 5-11-14-30, Thunder Bay: 9-11-8-28; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (0-5), Thunder Bay (0-1); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Jessie Heisz, Thunder Bay: Jordan Elliott; A: 250 (estimated).
