Dylan Mascarin let his emotions get the best of him Wednesday night.
It changed the face of the hockey game.
The Thunder Bay North Stars forward dropped the gloves midway through the third period, eager to take on Dryden Ice Dog forward Josh Reid. Reid, however, didn’t co-operate.
Mascarin was given an instigator minor and five minutes for fighting and tossed from the game, while Reid, who kept his gloves on, was only hit with a two-minute minor for roughing.
The Ice Dogs took advantage of the extended power play, with Diego Breckenridge potting the equalizer, his second of the night, at the 11:50 mark of the final period.
Luckily for the Thunder Bay-born Mascarin, Matt Kaarela played the hero, scoring the winner in a shootout, barrelling down the middle of the ice to beat Dustin Stevens, giving the Stars a 3-2 win, their third straight over Dryden.
But with the win, North Stars coach Todd Howarth said forgive and forget.
“He’s got to stand up for himself. Did he do the right thing at that time? Probably not, but he’s a young 16-year-old kid who’s learning his way. I talked to him about it and I explained it to him and he understands,” Howarth said.
It was one of seven power plays the Stars were faced with on the night – compared to the two the Ice Dogs met with – but the veteran coach was less concerned with the one-sidedness of the calls than he was how well his troops fought them off.
“Our penalty kill was good again,” he said. “It had to be, I guess. The kids have really bought into my penalty kill right now. My teams have always been noted for being great penalty kill teams. And our power play did the job tonight.
“We only got two power plays and we were 1-for-2.”
Kaarela, a 2010 graduate of the Thunder Bay Kings program, said he’s seen the Stars play better, but can’t complain about the end result.
“We didn’t play our best, but it came down to the end there and we ended up pulling it off,” said the 19-year-old, who has 13 points in 14 games with the North Stars in 2011-12. “It’s hard to play with that many penalties. It wasn’t our greatest game.”
Kaarela said it’s hard to keep up with a team like Dryden (6-7-3) when they’re always on the power play and have the momentum.
“Especially for five minutes, when they score and they still have a power play,” he said.
It was the Stars who scored first at 12:05 of the first, when Brennen Wolframe knocked home Quinn Rempel’s wraparound attempt, beating Stevens for a 1-0 Thunder Bay lead.
Breckenridge tied it some three-minutes-and-change later, converting a pass from Cole Sonstebo, but Sam Dubinsky restored the one-goal Thunder Bay advantage with slightly less than three minutes to go in the first, sliding the puck under an out-of-position Stephens, a lead they’d hold until the third.
The two teams failed to score in the second.
Jesse Linner had a chance for the equalizer seven minutes into the third, but Marc Nother stood his ground in the North Stars net, thwarting the wraparound opportunity.
Ryan Lobreau had a pair of close chances 30 seconds apart in overtime, but once again Nother kept the Ice Dogs at bay.
Colton Rhys and Brennen Dubchak traded goals in the shootout, but when Austin Lewis missed Dryden’s third attempt, Kaarela went five-hole on Stevens to eke out a win that lifted Thunder Bay into a fourth place tie with the Ice Dogs in the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings.
”I felt a little pressure, my team was expecting me to do something there,” Kaarela said. “I just did my best and got it.”
The Stars welcome the expansion – and winless – Iron Range Ironheads to the Gardesn on Friday and Saturday night.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Wolframe (Rempel, Tilley) 12:05. 2. Dryden Breckenridge (Sonstebo, Maggrah) 15:44. 3. Thunder Bay, Dubinsky (Rempel, Fox) 17:10 pp. Penalties: Mascarin TB (roughing) 13:27, Breukelman TB (roughing), Greene DRY (interference) 15:35, Reid DRY (interference) 16:18, Pelletier DRY (elbowing), Cox TB (high sticking) 17:39.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Osborne TB (cross checking) 2:37, Alexander TB (hooking) 9:55, Howarth TB (slashing, game misconduct, served by Lapenskie) 12:26.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Dryden, Breckenridge (Maggrah, Linner) 11:50 pp. Penalties: Breukelman TB (cross checking) 0:46. Kaarela TB (holding) 2:45, Loreau DRY (misconduct), Hogan TB (misconduct), Greene DRY (high sticking, fighting major, game misconduct), Alexander TB (fighting major, game misconduct) 7:36, Mascarin TB (instigating, fighting, game misconduct), Reid DRY (roughing) 10:30, Rempel TB (high sticking), Allaire DRY (elbowing) 15:32, Breckenridge DRY slashing, Desserre TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:44.
OVERTIME
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: none.
SHOOTOUT
Dryden: Tom Kuhn (miss)
Thunder Bay: Sam Dubinsky (miss)
Dryden: Colton Rys (goal)
Thunder Bay: Brennen Dubchak (goal)
Dryden: Austin Lewis (miss)
Thunder Bay: Matt Kaarela (goal)
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 8-10-12-0, Thunder Bay 13-8-4-0; Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (1-7), Thunder Bay (0-2); Goaltenders – Dryden: Dustin Stevens, Thunder Bay: Marc Nother; A: 200 (estimated).
