After watching his team blow a two-goal, second-period lead, Matt Kaarela gave the Thunder Bay North Stars an intermission pep talk.
Then, putting his money where his mouth was, he carried them to victory in the third.
The veteran forward scored twice and added helpers on two more goals in the final 20 minutes, helping the Stars snap a three-game slide with a 7-3 win over the visiting Duluth Clydesdales.
Kaarela, in just his second game back from a separated shoulder that forced him to the sidelines for a couple of weeks, said he told his teammates to stick to a simple game plan, finish their checks and good things would happen.
How right he was.
“We showed up for the third period and really took it to him,” the Thunder Bay native said. “I try to just do my best every time I’m on the ice and sometimes you do better than other times.”
His coach, Kevin Kahoot, had head praise for his 20-year-old star, in his second year with the SIJHL team.
“He just sets the tone when he’s out there. I think he’s one of the best, if not the best player in the league when he’s skating and playing well. But he took the team on his back in that third period. He kind of rallied the guys between periods and he wasn’t going to let these two points slip away,” Kahoot said.
Tied 3-3 after two, Kaarela one-timed a seeing-eye pass from Alex Vaillant, perched Gretzky-style behind the Clydesdales net, beating Ryan Wickiser at the 4:19 mark.
Mitchell Fox created a little breathing room at 11:19, taking two whacks at a Kaarela rebound before hitting paydirt, then with three minutes to go Kaarela rifled a wrist shot that Wickiser had not chance to stop, giving the Stars a 6-3 advantage.
Kolton Kahoot rounded out the scoring 45 seconds later.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time, said Kevin Kahoot, whose team lost a heartbreaker to Duluth on Friday when the Clydesdales scored the winner with just 12 seconds left in regulation.
“Losing, like winning, gets to be a habit,” the first-year coach said. “We’ve always talked about letting it get past two, and we let it get past two last night. So we needed a W. We’re going on the road for a four-game road trip, so we needed to come out and win and get the two points before we leave.”
The Stars, who gave the Clydesdales nine power-play opportunities, took the opening lead when Bradley Cox scored the lone goal of the first five minutes in.
Mathias Gardiman doubled the lead at 1:59 of the second, ripping an ice-level shot that skirted traffic in front of Wickiser and found the mesh.
Five minutes later Duluth’s Jon Ringsand made it 2-1 on a delayed wrist shot from the top of the circle that evaded Jayme Brattengeier, but Cox had the answer a mere 25 seconds further into the period, restoring the two-goal lead.
With his team down 3-1 and forward Mark Williams sent to the showers for swearing at the officials, Duluth GM Butch Williams stormed the Fort William Gardens press box, threatening to pull his team off the ice following the second because the officiating.
But a pair of late goals by Darrick Howard and Austin Snedden that tied the game cooled his temperament somewhat and the two teams returned for the third.
Star gazing: Dylan Mascarin, who was cut from the Team Canada West’s World Junior A Hockey Championship roster, was not in the lineup for Thunder Bay ... Duluth was assessed three bench minors in the game, two for too many men on the ice and one for delay of game.
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING: Thunder Bay, Cox (Brown) 5:18. Penalties: Cox TB (boarding) 1:08, Merritt DUL (tripping) 3:02, Adamson TB (slashing) 8:06 Bench Minor DUL (too many men) 9:11, Bench Minor DUL (delay of game) 13:46, Martyn TB (elbowing) 14:39, Williams DUL (roughing, misconduct) 19:56.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Thunder Bay, Gardiman (Lacosse) 1:59. 3. Duluth, Ringstad (Snedden, Howard) 7:19 pp. 4. Thunder Bay, Cox (Gardiman, Brown) 7:44. 5. Duluth, Howard (Snedden) 17:27. 6. Duluth, Snedden (Ringstad, Howard) 19:18 pp. Penalties: Kaarela TB (cross checking) 3:10, Lacosse TB (kneeing) 6:42, Martyn TB (slashing), Bench Minor DUL (too many men, served by Blauer) 8:47, Merritt DUL (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 11:46, Williams DUL (misconduct, game misconduct) 12:16, Prout TB (roughing) 14:11, Cox TB (inteference) 19:06.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Thunder Bay, Kaarela (Vaillant, Adamson) 4:19. 8. Thunder Bay, Mi. Fox (Kaarela, Kahoot) 11:19. Thunder Bay, Kaarela (Mi. Fox, Lacosse) 17:05. 9. Thunder Bay, Kahoot (Kaarela, Martyn) 17:50. Penalties: Kaarela TB (slashing) 0:53, Lacosse TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 4:47, Lacosse TB (high sticking) 13:29.
GAME DATA – SOG – Duluth 9-15-0-0, Thunder Bay 13-13-0-0; Power plays (goals-chances) – Duluth (2-9), Thunder Bay (0-6); Goaltenders – Duluth: Ryan Wickiser, Thunder Bay: Jayme Brattengeier; A: 400 (estimated).
