OLIVER PAIPOONGE – For nearly eight periods, it was all the Kam River Fighting Walleye could do to find the back of the net.
Coming off back-to-back losses in Sioux Lookout in which they scored a combined two goals, the Fighting Walleye were looking forward to their return to the Norwest Arena.
But for 39 minutes on Wednesday night, it was more of the same.
Wisconsin Lumberjacks goaltender Kyler Lowden faced a barrage of shots in the opening two periods of their SIJHL contest, but turned them all aside.
Then, with exactly 60 seconds to play in the middle stanza, Simon Bienvenue finally pushed the puck past Lowden, cutting the Lumberjacks 2-0 lead in half.
The goal-scoring cork now popped, the Fighting Walleye erupted for three goals in the third period, capped by Euan Morrison’s game winner with 1:20 left in regulation, and the home side snapped their two-game losing streak, toppling Wisconsin 4-3.
“It was nice to finally get one,” said Morrison, a Victoria native who scored 21 goals last season with the Nanaimo Buccaneers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
“Being a rookie in this league, making the jump up from junior B, it’s been tough. Everyone’s bigger, everyone’s faster and the goalies are better. But I just started to try to trust my teammates and tonight (Ryan) Doucette made a nice play over and got it to me an I buried it.”
Fighting Walleye coach Matt Valley said he’s not sure his team has it all figured out just yet, but he had to give credit to the leaders in the dressing room for gutting out a win that saw Kam River give up the lead with just under seven minutes to go, only to score twice in the final five minutes to pull out the two points.
“At the end of the day, we got it done. I think we probably had 50 shots on that kid tonight. Lowden is a really good goalie, one of the top goalies in the league, and if he can see the puck, it’s going to be an easy night for him, no matter how good or bad he is. It’s junior A hockey. We had the same problem last weekend in Sioux Lookout,” Valley said.
“It just seems like the same message is falling on deaf ears. But as frustrated as we are as a staff right now, they indeed got a win.”
Zach Johnson had the lone goal of the first period, beating Kam River goaltender high on his glove side to finish off a breakaway chance, the goal coming at the 17:00-minute mark.
Caden Sutter doubled the lead four-and-a-half minutes into the second, finishing off a 2-on-1, burying a Brandon McDonald pass that caught Kam River goaltender Jack Orchard going the other way.
Kam River’s Braeden Duchesne knotted the game 2-2 early in the third, but Zach Carson restored a one-goal Wisconsin lead at 13:10 of the final frame – only to have Jeremy Dunmore even things up with 4:54 left on the clock.
“Sometimes the bounces aren’t going your way, but when it lasts that long, it’s nice to finally get the monkey off your back,” Morrison said. “Then we were gripping our sticks too tight, but hopefully we can settle in and just move forward now.”
Kam River improved to 11-4-1 and will host Sioux Lookout on Saturday night. Wisconsin dropped to 5-7-1 and welcomes Red Lake to Spooner, Wisc. on Friday and Saturday.
