THUNDER BAY -- It wasn’t exactly how Brett Wolframe drew it up.
But he’ll take it.
The Thunder Bay North Stars captain on Friday night momentarily lost the puck on his shootout attempt, but recovered, caught Fort Frances Lakers goalie Brandon Bodnar off guard and slipped it through his five-hole to deliver a 4-3 win at Fort William Gardens.
“It was not what I intended to do, just the luck of the draw, I guess,” said Wolframe, who missed a chunk of time with a lower body injury earlier this season and said he’s still feeling some of the effects of the layoff.
A win is a win, he said, especially one that involved a two-goal third period comeback.
“The past two games, even before this game, we were a little slow and weren’t on top of our game. Today we knew what we had to do. We came out and after we got down a couple of goals we battled back and ended up getting the win,” he said.
Ironically, it was a Lakers timeout early in the third that sparked the rally.
Fort Frances coach Wayne Strachan, his team a little road weary, decided to give them a much needed break with the first-place North Stars starting to press.
In a matter of seconds his team’s two-goal lead had been cut in half, Jett Leishman beating Bodnar. Then 71 seconds later the game was tied, Justin Muir’s point shot deflecting off a Lakers stick in front of Bodnar.
The timeout backfired, Strachan said.
“It was just missed coverage in our own zone and that’s kind of plagued us all season,” Stachan said. “I thought we did a lot better job tonight. Thunder Bay’s obviously got a lot of firepower and I thought we neutralized them pretty well throughout the hockey game.
“But you give them those little opportunities and they beat you. They didn’t quit, they worked hard in the third period and anything can happen once overtime is done.”
Julian Uhryniuk scored twice for the visitors, including the game’s first goal on the power play with about two minutes remaining in the first.
Jared Virtanen doubled the Lakers lead shorthanded just 37 seconds later. It appeared the two sides would play a scoreless second, but recently returned defenceman Aaron Wesley-Chisel stuffed it home on the power play from Bodnar’s doorstep with just 12.1 seconds left in the frame to make it 2-1.
Uhyriniuk’s second of the night came 1:20 into the third on the power play as he pounced on a rebound and beat North Stars goalie Nathaniel Dupuis, who made 21 stops on the night.
“We’re trying to establish a team identity and I think we got away from it the last few games,” said Thunder Bay coach Jeremy Adduono. “We want to make sure we’re resilient in all situations and never giving up on a game, no matter what happens.
“I think it was a big step forward in the right direction tonight. By no means are we playing as well as we need to on a nightly basis and we’ll take the positives from tonight.”
The North Stars (9-4-1) and Minnesota Iron Rangers tangle on Saturday night at the Gardens.
Notes: Adduono said it looks like the North Stars will play at the Fort William First Nation Arena should city workers go on strike next week.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Fort Frances,Uhryniuk 3 (Gazich, Tustin) 17:58 pp. 2. Fort Frances, Virtanen 4 (Kooner, Lynes) 18:37 sh. Penalties: Wesley-Chisel TB (cross checking) 5:40, Newhouse TB (boarding) 14:10, Thrower TB (roughing) 16:18, Garnham FF (roughing) 18:10.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay, Wesley-Chisel 1 (Wolframe, Nigro) 19:47 pp. Penalties: Cheetham FF (cross checking) 2:24, Bench minor FF () 9:36, Corness TB, Allan FF (fighting major, game misconduct) 15:55 Arabia TB (roughing), Garnham FF (roughing), Lynes (roughing) , Tustin FF (tripping) 19:29.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Fort Frances, Uhryniuk 4 (Zajicek, Tustin) 1:20 pp. 5. Thunder Bay, Leishman (Gillis, Robinson) 5:37. 6. Thunder Bay, Muir (Arabia, Newhouse) 6:34. Penalties: Wolframe TB (interference) 0:48, Nigro TB (boarding) 9:44, Talakoski TB (roughing) 14:38.
OVERTIME
Scoring: None. Penalties: Uhryniuk FF (hooking) 1:43.
SHOOTOUT
Uhyriniak FF (miss)
Arabia TB (miss)
Virtanen FF (miss)
Nigro TB (miss)
Malpass FF (miss)
Thrower TB (miss)
Kooner FF (miss)
Wolframe TB (goal)
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 8-6-8-2-24 Thunder Bay 5-16-12-7-40; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (2-6), Thunder Bay (1-5); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Brendan Bodnar, Thunder Bay: Nathaniel Dupuis; A: 200 (estimated).
Correction: The initial version of this story said the North Stars would be playing the Lakers again on Saturday, when in fact Thunder Bay's opponent is the Minnesota Iron Rangers.
