The Thunder Bay North Stars can't finish first, and second is looking like a long-shot miracle at best.
Third place, however, is a different story.
Captain Sam Dubinsky said they'll take what they can get at this stage, speaking moments after the Stars completed a weekend sweep of the Iron Range Ironheads with an 11-1 win Saturday night at Fort William Gardens.
"We're going to try to get as high as we can, obviously," said Dubinsky, who had a goal and assist in the lopsided triumph, Thunder Bay's third straight Superior International Junior Hockey League win after dropping three in a row last weekend.
"First and second was our main goal, but now that's a bit of a stretch for us. So we're going to push for third and as high as we can, that's what we're going to push for."
At 22-15-5, the North Stars have built a two-point edge on fourth-place Dryden, who on Saturday were blanked 5-0 by front-running Wisconsin.
Despite the mini-streak, North Stars coach Todd Howarth said the team still isn't quite where he'd like them to be this late in the season, with just two games left on home ice, coming next Wednesday and Friday when Wisconsin pays a visit to Thunder Bay for the final time in the regular season.
"I think we're about 70 per cent. That's where I think we're at. We've got another 30 per cent that we can put out, and be going a little bit stronger on some of our systems. And that's what we're going to stress the last month here," Howarth said.
"We're on the road quite a bit here in February, so it will be really good for us to fix things because there will be no pressure on us."
The only pressure on the Stars in their latest win was whether or not they'd hit double digits for a second straight night.
Well, for about 11 minutes in the first there was pressure to even the score, after Casey Skolnik gave the Ironheads a 1-0 lead 68 seconds into the contest.
Brandon Warmington finally took care of that, netting the equalizer at 10:56. Twenty-three seconds later Dubinsky scored what proved to be the winner and the floodgates opened, with nine more unanswered goals.
Quinn Rempel. Michael Orosey scored in the first to provide a 4-1 lead. Kyle Lapenskie scored his first of two for the only goal of the second, then Brennan Dubchak served notice 38 seconds into the third, his first of two on the night.
The goals kept coming, with Marshall Fox rounding out the scoring on the power play at 10:04.
Carter McEachern made 16 saves to earn the win. David Sargent startd for the Ironheads, but was pulled after Rempel's goal, replaced by Colton Ishmael.
Star gazing: North Stars forward Bradley Cox (shoulder) left the game early and did not return. His playing status is up in the air for Wednesday ... First-string goalie Marc Nother sat this one out with a tweaked groin, but shouldn't miss any time. He was the back-up on Saturday.
Follow Leith Dunick on Twitter: @leithdunick
