THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Thunder Bay North Stars standout forward Cody Bruchkowski collected a season-high five goals in leading the Thunder Bay North Stars to a 7-4 victory over the Dryden GM Ice Dogs in Superior International Junior Hockey League action Friday night at the Fort William Gardens.
Dryden did get off to a solid start as Lucas Fabijancic notched his first SIJHL tally 2:18 into the contest.
Entering the game having lost five game in a row, Thunder Bay came back to tie it eight minutes into the opening period on Bruchkowski’s initial marker of the evening.
He then added his second later in the session as he converted during a man advantage opportunity.
Bruchkowski then finished off his fourth hat trick of the season just past the five-minute mark of the middle stanza as the North Stars went up by two.
Teammate Nikolas Campbell then made it 4-1 for the hosts before Dylan DiTomaso, at even strength, and Brad Fortier, via the power play, brought Dryden back to within one after two periods of play.
In the third though, Thunder Bay found their offensive touch once more as Bruchkowski collected goals four and five on the evening before Andrew Rennie added another for the North Stars.
DiTomaso notched one more for the GM Ice Dogs in the late going to round out the scoring.
The GM Ice Dogs did pump 50 shots on Thunder Bay starter Jordan Smith, who picked up the win, while Dryden netminder Knute Loe faced 40 attempts in defeat.
The same two sides will finish off a weekend home-and-home affair Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. start at Dryden’s Memorial Arena.
Photo credit: Gary Moskalyk