THUNDER BAY -- The Thunder Bay North Stars never led until the final second Friday night.
The go-ahead goal came when it mattered most, Jake Robinson circling in front of Thief River Falls goalie Ryan Buttazzoni, spinning and firing the game-winner into the net, 68 seconds into overtime.
“I just grabbed the puck and I was walking out and I felt the man on me. I saw my teammate changing and I knew his guy was going to stick more toward him. I just saw (an opening), pulled it and shot,” said Robinson, whose goal was his seventh of the season.
It was a character win, he added, but a lesson learned.
“It’s always tough playing from behind. We’re used to playing out in front. But a good team’s got to learn to play from behind and that’s what we did,” Robinson said.
During an eight-game winning streak, not all the victories are going to be easy ones, said North Stars coach Jeremy Adduono, whose team will hit the Christmas break on Saturday night, entering play with a 22-5-2 record atop the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings.
Wins like this are all about trying to establish a team identity, he said.
“We’ve used words like resiliency and perseverance and we want those words to be at the top of our identity,” Adduono said. “I think these kids, especially over the last few weeks, we’ve been finding ways to win. We’ve been short bodies and these kids are going through exams right now. There are lots of things going on.
“We’ve got forwards playing D, guys playing out of their position and different line combinations. I couldn’t be more proud of the kids.”
The Stars were without their leading scorer, Nicholas Nigro, sidelined with a hand injury. To make matters worse, high-scoring forward Brad Arabia was tossed in the second for a check from behind, a period after defenceman Jonathan Master and starting goalie Nathaniel Dupuis were tossed for a fracas in the Thunder Bay zone.
It was the expansion Norskies who scored first, Alec Daman redirecting a shot past Dupuis midway through the first. It was the first of three leads the expansion team would take – but to no avail.
Troy Sherman knotted the score with just under four minutes to go in the second, but Daman struck again just 2:38 into third to give Thief River Falls a 2-1 edge.
Ten seconds later Tyler Minoletti responded for Thunder Bay. Michael Johnson would put the Norskies in front again at the 10:03 mark, making good on a cross-ice pass from teammate Dalton Johnson, who seconds earlier had kept the play alive at the North Stars blue-line.
It was their final lead of the night on replacement goalie Jordan Elliott.
With time rapidly wearing away and the Stars in the midst of a 1:32 two-man advantage, Brendan Gillis found a short-side hole on Buttazzoni and sent the game to OT.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1 Thief River Falls, Daman 12 (Simonson, Pederson) 11:03. Penalties: Simonson TRF (roughing, fighting major, game misconduct), Masters TB (roughing, cross checking, game misconduct), Dupuis TB (leaving the crease, game misconduct) 15:02, Wolframe TB, Dix TRF (roughing, fighting majors, game misconduct) 16:56, McIntosh TRF (holding) 18:47
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Thunder Bay, Sherman 10 (Minoletti, Johnson) 16:17. Period: Pederson TRF (holding) 3:14, Arabia TB (checking from behind, game misconduct) 6:51, Chalupsky TRF (cross checking) 9:23, Buttazzoni TRF (tripping, served by Chalupsky) 19:33, Robinson TB (roughing) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thief River Falls, Daman 13 (Bundschuh, Bowey) 2:38. 4. Thunder Bay, Minoletti 4 (Robinson, Sherman) 2:48. 5. Thief River Falls, M. Johnson (D. Johnson) 10:03 6. Thunder Bay, Gillis 9 (Newhouse, Walsh) 15:39 pp. Penalties: Stang TRF (high sticking) 14:47, Bundschuh TRF (tripping) 15:15, Robinson TB (tripping) 16:52.
OVERTIME
Scoring: 7. Thunder Bay, Robinson 7 (Wesley-Chisel, Balcombe) 1:08. Penalties: None.
GAME DATA – SOG – Thief River Falls 14-11-13-1-38, Thunder Bay 12-15-9-1-37; Power plays (goals-chances) – Thief River Falls (0-4), Thunder Bay (1-5); Goaltenders – Thief River Falls: Ryan Buttazzoni, Thunder Bay: Nathaniel Dupuis (11 shots, 10 saves), Jordan Elliott (15:02, first); A: 325.
