OLIVER PAIPOONGE – The Kam River Fighting Walleye and Dryden Ice Dogs combined to score eight goals in the opening period on Friday night.
The two goaltenders must have read their teammates the riot act after the opening intermission. The two sides only managed three goals the rest of the way, the host Fighting Walleye scoring two of them to claim a 6-5 victory in one of two Superior International Junior Hockey League games played on the night.
The Thunder Bay North Stars (18-14-4) edged the Fort Frances Lakers 3-2 in the other contest, playing on home ice.
Holden Woodcroft scored the equalizer at 9:09 of the second and the game-winner at 12:15 of the third to seal the win for Kam River (30-5-2), the top-ranked team in the SIJHL.
Dayton Clarke had a pair of goals for Kam River in the first, the other tallies going to Trenton Morriseau and Ethan Lang.
Maxime Collette had a pair of goals for Dryden (22-12-3), giving him 37 on the season. Tristan Takats and Bryce Benfield and Jordan Gagnon notched the Ice Dogs other goals.
Both Kam River's Tyler Blazino and Dryden's Cody Johnston made 39 stops respectively for their teams.
At Fort William Gardens, Dawson Nelson and Mason Wesley staked the North Stars to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes and Zack Davis scored what proved to be the winner five minutes into the third to earn the North Stars the 3-2 win over the Fort Frances Lakers.
Darcy Scott and Connor O'Brien replied for the Lakers (5-30-0).
