THUNDER BAY – In a series dominated by the visiting team, the trend continued in Game 3 – thanks to rookie-of-the-year Max Leduc.
The first year forward scored a pair of goals 53 seconds apart in the second period on Thursday night and may just have helped the top-seeded Kam River Fighting Walleye salvage their Superior International Junior Hockey League championship dreams.
Leduc’s efforts propelled the Fighting Walleye to a 5-2 win over the Thunder Bay North Stars in Game 3 of the Bill Salonen Cup final, earning them their first win of the series.
A loss would have put Kam River in a 3-0 cavern, an almost insurmountable hole to rally back from in the postseason.
Now Leduc and his teammates see a way forward, getting a boost of confidence just in time, before the series got out of hand.
It’s doable now, said the 17-year-old, who also assisted on Dunmore’s first.
“We said to ourselves this is not going to be it,” said Leduc, earlier this month an 11th-round pick of the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Draft.
“We didn’t come this far for nothing. We got pucks deep, played our own game, kept it simple and got it tied 2-2. It’s really hard to play on the road. Most of our fans were here tonight and I think we had more fans than the North Stars, they were chanting for us, so it was a good atmosphere for an away game.”
Fighting Walleye coach Geoff Walker said he challenged Leduc to step up and be the type of player the Knights believe they’re getting.
“I told Leduc he’s a special player, and if you’re that guy, then let’s show it on the biggest stage. And credit to him, he went out there and got the job done for us tonight. We’ll be looking for plenty more of that here as the series goes on,” Walker said.
The visiting team has now won all three games in the series.
Twelve minutes in and it looked like that trend might change. Nikolas Campbell and Dimitri Trahiotis staked the North Stars to an early 2-0 lead, but the rapid-fire Fighting Walleye didn’t let it rattle them, not in the least.
Jeremy Dunmore scored the first of four straight Kam River would put past Thunder Bay goaltender Kennan Marks, his goal coming just 19 seconds after Trahiotis score the Stars second of the period. Just 36 seconds later the game was tied, affiliate player Logan Gallaher finding the back of the home team’s net, evening the score 2-2.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get the win, and the win, that’s all that matters there,” Leduc said.
The Stars offence, after giving up the lead, was throttled by the Kam River D. The team didn’t record a shot in the second until after the 10-minute mark and only managed seven on goalie Eric Vanska in the third – including a diving stop in the final three minutes on Edison Weeks, the Thunder Bay hero in Games 1 and 2 of the series.
Thunder Bay was also unable to capitalize on an 80-second two-man advantage late in the first, leading Walker to say the team felt a little fortunate to come out of the period even in goals.
It also helped boost their confidence heading into Period No. 2.
“We kind of took over,” Walker said. “We thought on this bigger ice it favoured us a little bit more.”
The Stars had a pair of power play opportunities in the third, but couldn’t solve Vanska. Leduc's second goal chased Marks, who stopped 15 of 19, replaced by Connor Lemieux in net. Lemieux didn't allow a goal the rest of the way, though Dunmore added an empty netter with 1:33 to go in the third.
Game 4 goes Friday night at the Gardens, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Campbell 12 (Caddo) 3:49. 2. Thunder Bay, Trahiotis 3 (Anton, Weeks) 12:34. 3. Kam River, Dunmore 4 (Leduc, Kinnavanthong) 12:53. 4. Kam River, Gallaher 1 (Kramps) 13:39. Penalties: Kinnavanthong KRW (kneeing double minor) 14:46, Cook KRW (hooking) 17:26.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Kam River, Leduc (E. Lang) 13:31. 6. Kam River, Leduc (E. Lang, Bell) 14:24. Penalties: None.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Kam River, Dunmore 5 (E. Lang, Sedgwick) 18:27 en. Penalties: Bell KRW (interference) 6:00, Morton KRW (roughing) 11:09, Bench minor TB (too many men) 12:37.
GAME DATA – SOG – Kam River 9-12-8-29, Thunder Bay 10-7-7-24; Power plays (goals-chances) – Kam River (0-1), Thunder Bay (0-4); Goaltenders – Kam River: Eric Vanska, Thunder Bay: Keenan Marks (19 shots, 15 saves), Connor Lemieux (4:24, second); A: 1,582.
