North Stars grab early lead in first-round playoff series

The slumps and slides are in the past.

For the English River Miners and the Thunder Bay North Stars, Tuesday’s SIJHL playoff opener at Fort Williams Gardens was a chance for redemption, an opportunity to show that the regular season was the anomaly, the not-quite true indication of the skill each team possesses.

Both sides can take away positives.

The Stars, who finished fourth, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and held on for a 3-1 triumph in Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff play-in series..

But the Miners kept it close, despite allowing 56 shots on net, thanks mainly to goaltender Greg Harney, who stopped 53 of the 55 pucks directed his way, the 56th a Kenny Turner backhand from centre that soared into the empty net with 27 seconds to go in regulation.

Brett Wolframe and Daniel McKitrick were the other North Stars goal scorers, with Alex Maticic cutting Thunder Bay’s lead in half at the 15:49 mark of the middle stanza.

It was a little closer than Jeremy Adduono, the second-year North Stars coach, would like, but a win’s a win, he said.

“Before you dissect or analyze anything about the game, the bottom line is we got a victory in Game 1. That’s what we were looking for, Adduono said.

“Anytime you get 56 shots in a game, or 50 or more shots, usually you’re going to score more than three goals – more than two actually, one of them was an empty-netter. It was a great job by Harney tonight.”

It was hard-fought and well-contested by both teams, he added.

“I thought that English River played really hard. There were no surprises for us. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be hard. They showed up true-to-form tonight. They were physical, they dumped pucks in and it was a good hockey game.”

The opener also marked the return of captain Kris Kellaway to the Thunder Bay lineup.

The 21-year-old Thunder Bay native hadn’t played since Feb. 10, when he went down with a concussion. But there was no keeping him out of the post-season, and despite the fact he didn’t factor into the scoring, he was a presence on the ice all night long.

“It definitely felt like I’ve been out for a long time,” said Kellaway, who had 15 goals and 38 points in 44 regular-season contests.

“I’m ecstatic to be back. I felt like it was a good first time back on the ice, but I’m definitely looking for more out of myself and it’s going to get better every time I’m out on the ice.”

Kellaway said one can’t underestimate the value of drawing first blood in a short series.

“It’s huge,” he said. “The first win is always big. It kind of takes the load off your shoulders. But like coach said after the game, we’ve got to forget about it now. We’ve got another game to play tomorrow night that’s just as important and we want to make sure we’re going into their barn with two wins under our belt.”

English River coach Kevin Kahoot said he was pleased with his team’s effort, but would like to see a stronger start in Wednesday’s rematch.

“It’s the same thing that’s been bugging us all year long. We watch teams jump out to an early lead and then we scrap and battle and try to get back into the game. I thought we did a really good job in the second half of the game. But the first 10 minutes of the game killed us.”

Eric Mann made 30 saves in the Thunder Bay net.

The Miners and Stars will meet again Wednesday night at Fort William Gardens. Game time is 7:3 p.m.