Nine is just divine as far as the Thunder Bay North Stars are concerned.
The streaking Superior International Junior Hockey League squad overcame an early 1-0 deficit Friday night at Fort William Gardens to capture their ninth straight win, a 4-2 triumph over a troubling second-place Dryden Ice Dogs team that had won seven straight against the Stars (20-16-2).
They can thank Riley Corbin.
The Thunder Bay netminder had a heroic 53-save performance between the pipes, stopping the Ice Dogs potent offence every step of the way.
Forward Kris Hamlin, who scored once and added an assist, said it really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“What can you say about it? Night in and night out he’s always performing his best and we look to him for saves here and there and he always provides us with them,” said the 18-year-old Hamlin, third on the North Stars with 13 goals this season.
“I can’t say anymore. He’s always in his best mode every game and we’re lucky to have him on this team.”
Saying Corbin stole the game is probably a pretty accurate description, said Thunder Bay coach Jeremy Adduono, whose team’s last loss was an 8-1 drubbing by the Ice Dogs on the road to open the new year.
“It was one of those games where the goaltender steals it, no doubt about it,” Adduono said. “I just had a talk with the team in the room, and for as happy as you are to get the two points, to find a way, we don’t win tonight without the performance of our goaltender for sure.”
Corbin, who has bounced around the past few seasons, including a short stint with the Lakehead Thunderwolves program, deflected most of the praise.
“As the season progresses, you mature a little and you learn more,” Corbin said. “These guys have had our number all year. But our team came together too. Fifty-three shots, it’s not that they were all high-scoring opportunities. We kept them to the outside. They had some power-play opportunities and not all of them were Grade A chances.
“My team did make it pretty easy for me at times. It’s the whole team, it’s not just me getting better as the season goes on.”
Kent Walchuk did all the offensive damage for Dryden (22-9-4), scoring both Ice Dogs goal, including a shorthanded tally two minutes into the contest, the goal coming after he took several whacks at the puck in front of Corbin.
Nicholas Nigro tied it at the 4:42 mark with a quick shot in the slot, his SIJHL-leading 22nd of the campaign.
The two teams traded chances until late in the second, Corbin coming up big on a Matt Houston breakaway, then stoning Nathan Avery who closed in on another one-one-one situation.
Thunder Bay's Aaron Wesley-Chisel fired the puck off the crossbar with less than five minutes to go in the second, but it was Jake Robinson who put the North Stars in front for good, ripping a quick wrist shot past Dryden goalie Taylor Unruh. Sixteen seconds later Avery Siau doubled the Thunder Bay lead and the third-place North Stars took a 3-1 lead into the final stanza.
Hamlin netted a power-play marker early in the period, Walchuk rounding out the scoring for the Ice Dogs at 12:35.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Dryden, Walchuk 11 (Allkins) 2:50 sh. 2. Thunder Bay, Nigro 22 (Hamlin, Turner) 4:42 pp. Penalties: Watt DRY (tripping) 1:00, Szczecinsk DRY (tripping) 4:20, Fortin TB (slashing) 6:56, Thrower TB (cross checking) 12:49, Avery DRY (high sticking) 14:26.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring:3. Thunder Bay, Robinson 2 (Wesley-Chisel, Letwin) 17:56 pp. 4. Thunder Bay, Siau (Letwin, Gillis) 18:12. Penalties: Fortin TB (high sticking), Rooney (high sticking) DRY 7:58, Fortin TB (interference) 12:43, Noseworthy DRY (slashing) 13:06, Smaha DRY (high sticking) 16:03, Thrower TB (kneeing) 18:59, McPhail DRY (tripping) 19:46.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Hamlin 13 (Turner, Nigro) 3:20 pp. 6. Dryden Walchuck 12 (Houston, McPhail) 12:35. Penalties: Smaha DRY (interference) 3:02, Rooney DRY (roughing) 3:43, Arabia TB (high sticking) 4:50, Nigro TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 8:08, NIgro TB (roughing) 10:28, Ziobro DRY (roughing), Hamlin (roughing) 13:24, Oberg DRY (cross checking) 17:14.
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 20-10-25-55, Thunder Bay 7-11-9-27; Power plays (goals-chances) –Dryden (0-7), Thunder Bay (3-10); Goaltenders – Dryden: Taylor Unruh, Thunder Bay: Riley Corbin; A: 300.
