Cole Saunders tallied twice and Thomas Gratz made 33 saves to help the Nipigon Elks skate past the Jr. B Stars 4-2 in the most recent Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League contest staged Tuesday at the Tournament Centre.
Saunders and Eric Bayko notched markers before the first period was midway through, putting the visitors up a pair.
Terrance Cheechoo’s first of the season got the Stars on the board at 13:03, only to see Cory Scavarelli score with an assisted power play effort a few minutes later to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.
Following a scoreless middle session, the Stars’ Chris Bourdons struck quickly in the opening seconds of the third as he fired home his 12th of the campaign.
Saunders did however tack on some insurance with six minutes to go to round out the scoring.
Shots on goal favoured the Elks 40-35 with Gratz picking up the win, while Joey Wanzuk was saddled with the loss.
Nipigon improved to 13-2 on the year as they moved back into first place in the league standings, two points clear of the Northern Hawks (12-1), who hold two games in hand. The Stars fell to 7-10 with the setback and remain in third spot overall.
Junior B play resumes Friday as the Elks and Stars meet again with Nipigon Arena serving as the venue. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile the Northern Hawks will head to Eagle Lake this weekend for a two-game set vs. the Northern Renegades. The opener goes Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and will conclude with a 1 p.m. matinee Sunday.
