Cue another third period comeback for the Thunder Bay North Stars.
Dylan Mascarin scored the equalizer on the power play, then netted an insurance goal with slightly less than three minutes to go in regulation as the Stars took a 2-0 stranglehold on their Superior International Junior Hockey League quarterfinal.
Quinn Rempel scored the winner from a near impossible angle at the 12:44 mark of the third, beating Duluth Clydesdale goalie Matt Arnold and the Stars went on to a 5-3 playoff win Saturday night at Fort William Gardens.
"We seem to be a third-period team the last two days, but hopefully we'll bounce back and start the game a little stronger," said the rookie Mascarin, who has four goals in two postseason games, after posting just six in 42 regular season games.
A product of the Thunder Bay Kings organization, the 16-year-old Mascarin said he just seems to be clicking at the right time.
"Everything's turning out great for us. It's just work hard, move your feet and hope for the best. It's very intense, everything is quick, quick, quick," he said.
Stars coach Lonny Bohonos said Mascarin's been showing his worth for some time now.
"He's the type of player that can put the puck in the net and seems to be in the right spot at the right time right now and good for him and his line-mates. That's huge for us, and lots of credit to Dylan for working hard and now he's getting paid on the score sheet," Bohonos said.
The first-year coach would like to see his offense find its way a little faster going forward. Duluth's Dillon Merson staked the Clydesdales to a 1-0 lead at 7:53 of the first, lead that lasted seven minutes.
Call-up Cary Brown evened the score at 14:55, but then with less than four seconds to go in the period Jonathan Ringstad fed Troy Olson for the one-timer in front of North Stars goalie Marc Nother and a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Thirteen minutes into the middle frame Mershon was at it again, picking the pocket of Thunder Bay's Joshua Blacksmith at the North Star blue-line. He raced down the ice and threw a breakaway backhand past Nother to double the Clydesdales lead.
But Matt Kaarela got one back some 73 seconds later, giving the North Stars hoping heading into the third.
After Mascarin tied it up, Rempel pushed the Stars ahead for good, after faking out a Duluth's Ryan Tront, a Thunder Bay native.
"I just chipped it by him, put my head down, shot and it went in," Rempel said. "I don't know where it went."
Getting the wins on home ice – their first two games at the Gardens in several weeks after an extended 12-game road trip – was huge, he added.
"It's big for sure, it's always a battle in the other team's barn," he said.
He and his teammates will test out that theory on Tuesday night, when they travel to Duluth for Game 3. Game 4 goes Wednesday.
Elsewhere on Saturday, at Spooner, Wisc., the Wisconsin Wilderness captured Round 1 of their 1-2 showdown against the Fort Frances Lakers.
Zach Blaisdell scored twice and SIJHL defenceman of the year Anthony Calabrese had three assists in the 5-1 win, their second in two nights.
The two teams will try it all over again next weekend in Fort Frances. The winner of the two-set series gets to decide their semifinal opponent.
First period
Scoring: 1. Duluth, Mershon (Tomassoni, Scott) 7:53. 2. Thunder Bay, Brown 1 (Ma. Fox) 14:55. 3. Duluth, Olson (Williams, Ringstad) 19:56. Penalties: Prout TB (hooking) 2:53.
Second period
Scoring: 2. Duluth, Mershon 2 (unassisted) 13:03. 3. Thunder Bay, Kaarela (Rempel, Alexander) 14:16. Penalties: Doig DUL (slashing) 11:42, Rempel TB (interference) 12:02, Williams DUL (holding) Ma. Fox TB (roughing) 13:45, Lapenskie TB (tripping) 16:49, Morsette DUL (high sticking) 17:29, Kaarela TB (boarding) 18:39, Doig DUL (unsportsmanlike conduct) 20:00.
Third period
Scoring: 6. Thunder Bay, Mascarin 3 (Kaarela, Mi. Fox) 8:32 pp. 7. Thunder Bay, Rempel 1 (unassisted) 12:44. 8. Thunder Bay, Mascarin 4 (Mi. Fox, Lapenskie) 17:07. Penalties: Blacksmith TB (holding), Lapenskie TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 3:11, Scott DUL (boarding) 7:32, Mi. Fox TB (roughing), Ma. Fox TB (roughing), Williams DUL ((roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:43.
GAME DATA – SOG – Duluth 12-11-7-30, Thunder Bay 4-14-5-23; Power plays (goals-chances) – Duluth (0-7), Thunder Bay (1-3); Goaltenders – Duluth: Matt Arnold, Thunder Bay: Marc Nother; A: 415.
