THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. -- The Thunder Bay North Stars kept battling back on Friday night.
But despite catching the host Thief River Falls Norskies on two separate occasions, they couldn't complete the comeback, falling 6-4 on the road.
The Norskies staked themselves to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, Bryce Johnson and Jack Michaels scoring 21 seconds apart on North Strars goaltender Seth McKay.
Thunder Bay clawed back to even ground in the second, needing just 3:41 to erase the Norskies two-goal lead.
Jacob Brown started things off for Thunder Bay, potting his 29th of the season at the 1:22 mark. Cody Bruchkowski, the league's leading scorer, scored his 49th just 2:19 later and the game was tied 2-2 – for just over two minutes.
Cody Checco edged Thief River Falls in front and the home side took a 3-2 lead into the second-period intermission.
Hunter Foreshew evened things up 1:45 into the third, by Tyler Kiley-Ram and Isaac Baron scored back-to-back goals to give the Norskies another two-goal lead. Foreshew got one back with 3:03 to go in regulation, but Baron notched his second of the night on the power play at 18:07 to ice the Stars.
Joshua Seeley made 36 saves to earn the win, while McKay was good on 26 of 32 shots directed his way by Thief River Falls.
The North Stars take on Wisconsin on Saturday night in Spooner, Wisc.
Thunder Bay, losers of two straight, fell to 29-15-3. The Norskies improved to 26-19-3, six points behind the second-place North Stars.
