THUNDER BAY – To win the in postseason, teams have to learn to play playoff hockey.
The Thunder Bay North Stars got a double dose of it this weekend in a home-and-home series against the Fort Frances Lakers,
The Stars, still jockeying for playoff positioning in the Superior International Junior Hockey League and looking to lock down a top-three spot before the regular season comes to a close in two week’s time, got the job done.
After roaring back from a 4-0 deficit on Friday night to squeak out a 5-4 overtime win on the road, Thunder Bay outlasted the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Gardens, thanks to an Edison Weeks deflection late in the third period that secured a second straight 5-4 triumph.
“Obviously we want to win every night, so if we can get home-ice advantage in the playoffs, that would be awesome,” said forward E.J. Paddington, whose seven-game goal-scoring was snapped on Sunday – though his three-assist effort upped his point streak to nine games.
“If we can finish second, that would be awesome, or third. We just don’t want to drop so we’ve got to keep winning.”
The Stars (31-11-5) jumped back into a first-place tie with the Kam River Fighting Walleye (33-9-1), leapfrogging the Sioux Lookout Bombers in the process.
The trouble for Thunder Bay is opportunities remaining.
The North Stars have just two games left on their slate, a pair of home games against the Dryden Ice Dogs, starting on March 15.
The Fighting Walleye have six games left and the Bombers have five – and neither team piles up the losses.
The fourth-place Ice Dogs still have a shot to catch Thunder Bay, who have clinched home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, but can’t afford a loss in any of their three remaining contests.
Defenceman Sam Skillestad, who had a goal and two helpers, said it felt good to get a win like that out of the way.
“It’s crazy and fun having it be so competitive,” the Missoula, Mont. native said.
“But each game matters. If we lose both games in Dryden coming up here, we could be in (fourth) place. And if we win both and have some luck on our side, we could end up in first.”
The Lakers looked like they were determined to make up for Friday’s loss, and opened the scoring just 1:07 in, Brady Krentz notching his 17th of the season at the expense of North Stars goaltender Ben Laurette.
The lead lasted just over a minute, when Thunder Bay’s Beau Helmeczi tied things up. A two-minute 5-on-3 helped the North Stars take their first lead of the night, Easton Mikus potting his league-leading 30th of the season past Fort Frances goaltender Gunnar Paradis, the grandson of former Lakehead Thunderwolves coach Bill MacDonald.
Brody Lindal tied things up at 17:10 of the first, but the North Stars jumped back in front early in the second after Paddington and Alex Remenda were stopped on back-to-back quality chances.
Skillestad fired from the top of the right circle and the puck went untouched into the net.
As they did all night long, it was the power play that got Fort Frances back on even ground, Krentz taking a pass from Lindal and burying it by Laurette, at 16:25 of the middle frame.
Remenda gave the North Stars their third lead of the night just 23 seconds into the third, a quick shot rom the slot, but the Lakers fought back again.
Clark Scaddan kept the play alive with a diving stop at the blueline and Magnus Pearson rifled a blast home to even the game 4-4.
Weeks, in a battle with Paddington for the SIJHL scoring lead, a chase he currently leads 73 to 68, finally got on the board, tipping home Paddington’s shot with 5:41 to go in regulation.
North Stars coach said the Lakers (9-29-6) may be locked into seventh, but they play hard each and every night.
“The way we played, this was our sixth game in nine nights, that’s a lot of hockey. I think physically we were OK. Mentally you don’t always make the choices you should make, because I think they’re more mentally tired than physically tired,” DeGagne said.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Fort Frances, Krentz 17 (Starr, Scaddan) 1 :07. 2. Thunder Bay, Helmeczi 14 (Trangedal) 2 :26. 3. Thunder Bay, Mikus 30 (Paddington, Skillestad) 11:16 pp. 4. Fort Frances, Lindal (Scaddan, Starr) 17:10 pp. Penalties: Couvier FF (unsportsmanlike conduct), Nelson FF (cross checking) 10:01, Helmeczi TB (cross checking) 16:17.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Skillestad 5 (Paddington, Dial) 2:33. 6. Fort Frances, Krentz 18 (Lindal) 16:23 pp. Penalties: Tangedal TB (cross checking) 15:17, Garland FF (unsportsmanlike conduct, holding), Helmeczi TB (cross checking) 17:44, Wood FF (slashing) 18:01.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Thunder Bay, Remenda (Skillestad) 0:23. 8. Fort Frances, Pearson (Lindal, Starr) 10:55 pp. 9. Thunder Bay, Weeks (Paddington, Dial) 14:19. Penalties; Glousher TB (instigator, fighting, game misconduct), Garland FF (charging, fighting, game misconduct) 4:36, Remenda TB (cross checking) 9:41, Paddington TB (boarding) 11:38, Bench minor FF (too many men, served by Scaddan 13:16,
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 12-6-6-24, Thunder Bay 12-17-12-41; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (3-4), Thunder Bay (1-3); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Gunnar Paradis, Thunder Bay: Ben Laurette; A: 478.
