THUNDER BAY -- Something had to give.
The Thunder Bay North Stars, riding a five-game winning streak to start the Superior International Junior Hockey League season, had a pair of breakaway chances in overtime, including a penalty shot awarded to Nicholas Nigro.
He was turned aside by Dryden Ice Dogs goalie Taylor Unruh, who stacked his pads and gave his team a second life.
Dryden's Cory Dennis and Derek McPhail both had one-on-one chances against North Stars goalie Nathaniel Dupuis. They too came up short.
But veteran Ice Dogs forward Nic Noseworthy found his mark, rifling a shot past Dupuis with 22.7 seconds left to score Dryden a 4-3 win and remove Thunder Bay from the ranks of the unbeaten.
"The first three minutes they were pressuring us hard. They had three breakaways in the first three minutes (of overtime) and then we just got a second win. Cory had a good rush in the start and I just had to pick up the puck that he missed," whose first goal of the season proved to be the winner.
"We're a good corps. We always battle, we never give up no matter what the score is. We just said there's always faith and we just came out in overtime with a lot of power."
The finish was a lot like the start, the Ice Dogs dominating play and bottling up the North Stars much improved offence over the course of two periods.
American Eric Stout, the league's leading goal-scorer, pounded home a pair past Dupuis, the first coming off a clean face-off win by teammate Braedyn Aubin five minutes into the contest, the second restoring a two-goal Dryden lead late in the second.
Stout, who arrived in Dryden after a month-long stint in Steinbach, Man. upped his total to 10, two more than Nigro's eight.
"My dad always told me to play with confidence and I have a nose for the net, so if I just camp around their the puck will get on my stick and I'll bury it."
Still, he knows his new team might have gotten away with one on Friday night, the Stars (5-0-1) roaring back in the third, outshooting the Ice Dogs (4-1-0) 15-9 and striking away a two-goal deficit on goals by Brad Thrower and Nigro, who one-timed a Ryan Walsh pass from just inside the top of the circle with 1:37 remaining in regulation to tied the game 3-3.
"I was pretty confident we were going to win," Stout said. "The hockey gods kind of thanked us for that. We worked hard all week and good things come to you when you work hard."
North Stars coach Jeremy Adduono said it was disappointing to see the win streak end, but liked what he saw at the end.
"I think the No. 1 positive is they way we rallied in the third. We want to establish our team identity, and the identity that we want is that we're gong to be a resilient group. Even though we didn't really play well at all for the first 40 minutes, we were confident and knew we were still in the game. It was just about finding a way in the third, and we did that," Adduono said.
The North Stars take on the English River Miners twice on the road this weekend.
First period
Scoring: Dryden, Stout 9 (Bracko) 5:01 pp. 2. Dryden, McPhail 2 (Aubin) 10:46. Penalties: Talakoski TB (tripping) 4:54, McPhail DRY (slashing) 8:17, Ziobro DRY (holding) 11:55, Galbraith DRY (slashing) 14:15, McPhail DRY (tripping) 16:26, Hamlin TB (hooking) 16:59, Walsh TB (high sticking) 19:04.
Second period
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay, Walsh 2 (Hamlin, Nigro) 9:13 pp. 4. Dryden, Stout 10 (Noseworthy, Aubin) 15:22. Penalties: Palermo DRY (high sticking double minor) 7:57, Minoletti TB (hooking) 19:48.
Third period
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Thrower (Talakoski) 5:07. 6. Thunder Bay, Nigro 8 (Walsh, Newhouse) 18:23 pp. Penalties: Newhouse TB (elbowing) 15:18, Sanchez DRY (tripping) 17:57.
Overtime
Scoring: 7. Dryden, Noseworthy (Dennis) 4:37. Penalties: None.
Penalty shot: Nigro TB (missed) 1:17, OT.
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 14-16-9-4-43, Thunder Bay 11-8-15-2-36; Power plays (goals-assists) – Dryden (1-5), Thunder Bay (2-6); Goaltenders - Dryden: Taylor Unruh, Thunder Bay: Nathaniel Dupuis; A: 200 (estimated).
