THUNDER BAY – It’s been nine years since the Thunder Bay North Stars have managed to get by the Dryden Ice Dogs in a playoff series.
That streak – a loss in last year’s final and another in the 2016 semifinal – came to an end on Wednesday night, the Stars setting the tone with opening-minute goals in the first and second periods to cruise to a 4-1 Game 5 win that earned them a 4-1 series win over a pesky two-time defending Superior International Junior Hockey League champion Ice Dogs team that took Thunder Bay to overtime three times in the first four games of the set.
The win sends the Stars to the Bill Salonen Cup final for the second straight year, and was a relief said veteran forward Brendan Gillis, who drew an assist on Joel Willan’s second goal of the second period, head-manning the puck to his teammate, who swopped in on Dryden goalie Jacob Anthony and gave the host team an insurmountable 4-0 lead at the time.
“It’s just a relief. This is my first time beating Dryden in the playoffs, in all the years I’ve played here. It feels good, for sure, to beat them,” Gillis said.
Captain Ryan Mignault set the early tone, scoring his second of the playoffs in the opening minute of the contest, firing a shot from the slot that hit Anthony, shot skyward and floated over the Ice Dogs goalies head, landing behind him and trickling into the net.
Thunder Bay went up 2-0 later in the first when star forward Keighan Gerrie stripped the puck from Anthony, who was trying to play it behind the Ice Dogs net, circled in front and deposited into the open goal.
It wasn’t pretty, said coach Rob DeGagne, but sometimes you’ve got to catch a break or two to get the win, especially come playoff time.
“We talked about it before the game that we wanted to get a good start. We felt that if we could get two or three up on them, then maybe it would be a little bit easier on us,” DeGagne said. “We had a really good start. (Mignault’s) goal was a little bit of a break for us, and even Keighan’s goal – the goalies was playing behind the net – was a bit of a break for us too.
“I didn’t think we played a particularly great first period. We played OK, but we found ourselves up 2-0. It’s much easier to play with the lead than it is to fight back all the time.”
Willan added to the lead 19 seconds into the middle stanza, capitalizing on a flubbed shot by Michael Stubbs that landed the puck on Willan’s stick directly in front of a helpless Anthony.
“I’m not too sure if he meant to pass it to me, but it did go off the skate and right on the tape, so it worked out well,” said Willan, who scored four times in the series.
He added his second of the night at 5:20 and the Stars never looked back.
“Rob preached the whole series that they’re the champions and if we want to be the champions we have to beat the champs,” Willan said. “We went into it, we worked hard, we got it done early and we’ll have a nice break now.”
Braden Shea scored the lone Ice Dogs goal, ending Brock Aiken’s shutout bid with eight seconds to go in the third.
The Stars, looking for their first SIJHL crown since 2010, will await the winner of the other SIJHL semifinal between the Red Lake Miners and the Thief River Falls Norskies. Red Lake leads the series 3-1.
Star gazing: The final probably won’t start until next Thursday at the earliest, as Gardens staff will be shaving down the ice surface to prepare it for this month’s Telus Cup ... DeGagne said he’ll give his team a day or two off before returning to practice, adding they’ll have to find an alternative venue while the Gardens ice work is completed.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Mignault 2 (Mihalcin) 0:36. 2. Thunder Bay, Gerrie 4 (unassisted) 14:02. Penalties: Bryant TB (hooking) 2:22, Parra-Vaughan DRY (hooking) 5:55, Nicholas TB (interference) 7:47.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay, Willan 3 (Stubbs) 0:19. 4. Thunder Bay, Willan 4 (Gillis) 5:20. Penalties: Hackl DRY (roughing) 2:12, Siebega DRY, Gerrie TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 9:54, Halushak TB (roughing) 10:31, Auger TB (slashing) 10:43.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Dryden, Shea (Stout, Many Guns) 19:51 pp. Penalties: Bassi TB (tripping) 0:21, Many Guns DRY (high sticking) 10:55, Turbide TB (misconduct), Huemmet DRY (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct) 17:40., Auger TB (holding) 18:44.
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 8-13-9-30, Thunder Bay 10-16-11-37 Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (1-5), Thunder Bay (0-5); Goaltenders – Dryden: Jacob Anthony, Thunder Bay: Brock Aiken; A: 1,250.
