THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay North Stars appear to have put their goal-scoring woes in the past.
But it took them more than 20 minutes on Wednesday night to get the offensive gears going again.
Buoyed by Jordan Elliott’s stellar play in nets in a scoreless first, the Stars erupted for four goals in the second and went on to down the visiting Fort Frances Lakers 6-1 at Fort William Gardens.
Finding the back of the net felt good as a team, said forward Jake Robinson, who paced the North Stars attack with a pair of goals, equaling the output of forward Nicholas Nigro, who also scored twice on newly acquired Lakers goalie Jessie Heisz.
“Once one goes in, they all go in, you know as the saying goes,” said Robinson, who upped his season tally to 10, the slumping Stars scoring three times in a four-minute span in the second.
“It’s just good to get the confidence back and score first in a game instead of coming back.”
How bad had the offence gotten?
The North Stars, who had lost four of five coming into the contest, scored twice in two home-ice weekend losses to the English River Miners.
Thunder Bay coach Jeremy Adduono said he hadn’t yet started to panic, but admitted he felt a lot better having put six goals on the board in one night.
“It was probably the first time this team’s faced any sort of real adversity. We weren’t panicking, but it was tough. We’re used to winning and we’re not used to losing hockey games,” Adduono said. “There were games we were getting 40-plus or 50-plus shots on some nights and weren’t finding ways to score.
“The good thing was we were still getting chance. I told the guys we’re still very confident in this group and we’re still a really good hockey team.”
Elliott, the star of the opening stanza when the Lakers outshot the Stars 13-12, stood tall most of the night, the lone blemish coming late in the third when Julian Uhryniak lifted the puck over the sprawling Thunder Bay goaltender, ending his shutout bid midway through the final period.
“I think the most important, the most crucial part of the game was probably the first 10 minutes. We were a little bit of a fragile team because of what’s happened the past few games, and Jordan came up big for us,” Adduono said. “He’s exceeded expectations all year and gave us a chance to keep our head above water and we took over in the second.”
The North Stars also got a goal from Austin Storm, who tallied 73 seconds after Robinson opened the scoring on the power play at 8:19 of the second.
Brandon Gillis scored Thunder Bay’s third power play goal of the night 3:06 into the third, moments after Elliott made a diving stop on Fort Frances captain Dylan Kooner, in alone at the Thunder Bay net.
Thunder Bay hits the road this weekend for games in Fort Frances and Dryden, completing the home-and-home set against the Ice Dogs next Tuesday at the Gardens.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Robinson 9 TB (slashing) 6:07, Allan FF (cross checking), Sherman TB (boarding) 14:29, Masters TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 15:45, Bernie FF (interference) 16:24.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Robinson (Newhouse, Elliott) 8:19 pp. 2. Thunder Bay, Storm 7 (Thrower, Walsh) 9:32. 3. Thunder Bay, Robinson 10 (Gillis) 11:47.4. Thunder Bay, Nigro 24 (Thrower, Masters) 16:02 pp. Penalties: Nigro TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 1:02, Merritt FF (unsportsmanlike conduct) 4:23, Master TB (interference) 4:54, Lynes FF (tripping) 7:06, Merritt FF (boarding) 14:36, Storm TB () 17:55, Tustin FF (interference) 18:40.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Gillis (Wesley-Chisel, Wolframe) 3:06 pp. 6. Thunder Bay, Nigro 25 (Arabia, Thrower) 5:47. 7. Fort Frances, Uhryniuk (Bruinsma, Malpass) 9:01. Penalties: Uhryniuk FF (slashing) 1:13, Lynes FF (misconduct) 3:06, Walsh TB (high sticking) 9:53,
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 12-5-7-24, Thunder Bay 11-13-18-42; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (0-4), Thunder Bay (3-5); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Jessie Heisz, Thunder Bay: Jordan Elliott; A: 300 (estimated).
