THUNDER BAY – Ryan Mignault said he and his teammates played this one for the victims of Friday’s horrific crash that killed 15 members of the Humboldt Broncos organization.
Mignault scored twice and the Stars tallied five unanswered goals after spotting the visiting Thief River Falls Norskies a 2-0 lead in the first and went on to a 5-2 Game 3 victory to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Superior International Junior Hockey League season.
The two teams lined up side-by-side at centre ice prior to the game in a show of unity and donned Broncos stickers on their helmets in a show of support for family and friends of those who died.
“It could have happened to anyone,” said Mignault, who started the season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and was once protected by the Broncos organization.
“We dedicated this game to them and we played great for them.”
The North Stars dominated most of the contest, other than a short stretch in the opening period when the Norskies, the No. 2 seed entering the playoffs, scored twice in an 85-second span.
Brett Piper struck first, following his shot to the net, jumping on the rebound and firing the puck past Brandon Bodnar, giving the Norskies the early lead at 6:56.
After a defensive breakdown Jared Pederson doubled the Thief River Falls advantage, taking a cross-crease pass from Alec Daman and one-timing it home.
It was the last time they’d put the puck behind Bodnar, who finished with 25 saves.
It was an innocuous play that started the North Stars comeback rolling.
Captain Brad Thrower stepped out of the penalty box, stayed on the ice and picked up the puck on the left side of the Fort William Gardens ice. He barrelled over the blue-line and drove a wrist shot high and hard on Norskies goaltender Bailey Schmitz, the puck sneaking through on the short side.
Thrower was instrumental in the equalizer, delivering a pass to a charging Mignault from behind the net with 1:20 to go in the first.
Thrower also scored the eventual game-winner five minutes into the second, the only goal of the period.
North Stars coach Rob DeGagne praised his team’s perseverance.
“That definitely was not our plan to spot them two goals. They’re definitely a good team and they’ve got lots of firepower. I thought we got off to a pretty good start and then we had a little lull there for about seven or eight minutes,” DeGagne said.
“Their goalie played well. I thought we took over the game at the end of the first period. We had a great second period and the third period we also had a good period as well.”
The Stars, playing in front of a season-high 934 fans, limited the Norskies to just 12 shots over the final 40 minutes.
Mignault netted his second of the night and fourth of the post-season on a beautiful wraparound that caught Schmitz looking the other direction midway through the third. Troy Sherman added an empty netter to round out the scoring with 1:31 to go.
“The boys all pulled together and getting the W tonight was the important thing and we ended up getting it, and that’s all that mattered,” said North Stars forward Alex Maticic.
Game 4 goes Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Gardens.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thief River Falls, Piper 1 (Lindholm, Schuster) 6:56. 2. Thief River Falls, Pederson (Daman, Jackson) 7:29. 3. Thunder Bay, Thrower 2 (Auger, Mihalcic) 16:56. 4. Thunder Bay, Mignault 3 (Thrower, Muir) 18:40. Penalties: Maticic TB (high sticking) 9:40, Thrower TB (high sticking) 14:29, Siau TB (boarding) 19:33.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Thunder Bay, Thrower 3 (Santin) 4:45.Penalties: Johnson TRF (high sticking) 7:53, Severson TRF (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), Santin TB (roughing) 11:05, Akervik TRF (roughing), Jones TRF (roughing, misconduct), Gerrie TB (roughing), Siau TB (roughing, misconduct) 12:36, Santin TB (slashing) 18:38,
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Thunder Bay, Mignault 4 (unassisted) 11:34 pp. 7. Thunder Bay, Sherman 2 (J. Newhouse) 18:29. Penalties: Eischen TRF (cross checking) 2:03, Santin TB (high sticking) 7:14, Soderberg TRF (spearing double minor) 10:45, Severson TB (slashing) 12:34.
GAME DATA – SOG – Thief River Falls 15-6-6-27, Thunder Bay 14-21-14-49; Power plays (goals-chances) – Thief River Falls (0-5), Thunder Bay (1-5); Goaltenders – Thief River Falls: Bailey Schmitz, Thunder Bay: Brandon Bodnar; A: 934.
