THUNDER BAY – One down, 10 to go for the Thunder Bay North Stars.
The Superior International Junior Hockey League club opened the Bill Salonen Cup playoff run on Tuesday night on home ice, downing the visiting Wisconsin Lumberjacks 5-1 to take Game 1 of their best-of-five opening-round series.
Hayden Cattani and Dimitri Trahiotis broke open a 1-1 tie in the second, scoring just under six minutes apart and Jordan Smith did all he needed to in net for the North Stars, stopping 18 of 19 shots on the night to shut down the Lumberjacks offence.
Nolan Desjardins and Lou Vesperini scored 22 second apart in the third to put the game out of reach, the Stars taking the all-important first step to defend the SIJHL championship, last awarded in 2019.
It was a slow start for the North Stars offence – at one point they were outshooting their opponent 18-4 with nothing to show for it.
It's nothing to worry about, said forward Edison Weeks, who finally put the home side on the board with 79 seconds to play in the first.
“It's a lot of guys' first playoff hockey tonight, including myself” said Weeks, a late addition to the North Stars lineup who joined the team from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League on Nov. 29.
“We've got some veterans on this team, but if you look at it, COVID's taken out playoff opportunities for a lot of people. We've got a really young group here and I think our veterans definitely stepped up today and helped us out. But in order to get through that (start), we needed everyone and once everyone was in and going after about 10 to 15 minutes we just started clicking – and you could tell.”
Thunder Bay coach Rob DeGagne, unimpressed with his players chirping the officials and the other team when up by four goals, said opening up with a win over a Wisconsin team that won five of its final seven regular season games, is key in a short series.
“We played well. We had 50 shots and we capitalized on some of our opportunities and scored two in the third period when we needed to,” DeGagne said. “I'm not disappointed with the way we played, for sure.”
Up 1-0 after one, Thunder Bay's lead lasted until the 4:43 mark of the second when Noah Smejka put the puck past North Stars goaltender Jordan Smith, who was otherwise perfect in a 22-save performance.
Perseverance put the Stars in front for good, two seconds past the midway point of the period.
There was a scramble in front of Wisconsin goaltender Kyler Lowden – more on him later – and forwards Hayden Cattani and Dylan Winsor took turns whacking at the puck, the former ramming it home on the third attempt.
It was the first of four unanswered the North Stars would score.
Dimitri Trahiotis upped the lead to two at 15:52 of the second and Nolan Desjardins and Lou Vesperini put it away in the third, scoring 22 seconds apart,
It just took a couple of goals to build up their confidence, said DeGagne, his team entering the playoffs as the No. 4 seed.
“There's probably a little pressure. You're playing at home. You want to win the first game and get off to a good start. If you get a lot of shots and don't have the success at first, we could have folded the suit and went home,” DeGagne said.
“But they kept going at it and we got one and another one and once they got comfortable, it happened for us. But it took it's time, that's for sure.”
The win may have been a costly one for a Thunder Bay team trying to play its way back to full health. Forward Pier-Luc Bellard injured his left knee racing after a puck deep in the Lumberjacks zone. Lowden charged out of his net and took Bellard's legs out from underneath him, sending him somersaulting onto the ice. DeGagne expressed hope after the game Bellard would be OK and that the injury wasn't serious.
Lowden was handed a five-minute major and booted from the contest, Tyler Swanson taking over between the pipes.
Game 2 goes Wednesday night at Fort William Gardens. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Weeks 1 (Kuzenko, Trahiotis) 18:41. Penalties: Broughton TB (slashing) 1:28, Falkowski WIS (roughing) 5:42, McDonald WIS (slashing) 8:45, Cattani TB (tripping) 9:04, Meloche TB (slashing) 16:15.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Wisconsin, Smejkal 1 (Jouppi, Arsonson) 4:43. 3. Thunder Bay, Cattani 1 (Winsor, Foreshew) 10:02. 3. Thunder Bay, Trahiotis 1 (Kuzenko, Caddo) 15:52. Penalties: Weeks TB (tripping) 1:25
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Desjardins 1 (Belluz, Davis) 4:35. 6. Thunder Bay, Vesperini (Caddo) 4:57. Penalties: Carson WIS (tripping) 0:29, Bellard TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 4:57, Lowden (tripping major, game misconduct, served by Battersby) 9:04, Belluz TB (interference) 13:33, McCarll WIS (holding) 13:45, Davis TB (head contact, misconduct) 18:54.
GAME DATA – SOG – Wisconsin 10-8-6-24, Thunder Bay 21-16-10-47; Power plays (goals-chances) – Wisconsin (0-7), Thunder Bay (0-4); Goaltenders – Wisconsin: Kyler Lowden (42 shots, 37 saves), Tyler Swanson (10:56, third), Thunder Bay: Jordan Smith; A: 517.
