Thunder Bay has put the SIJHL on notice – the North Stars are capable of winning on any given night. With a pair of victories this weekend Thunder Bay (5-6-0-1) are suddenly in the mix currently tied for third in the league standings with 11 points, just three points behind league-leading Dryden.
Currently on a four-game win streak, the North Stars had a rough start to the weekend on Friday. Playing host to the Minnesota Iron Rangers, Thunder Bay saw themselves trailing 5-1 less than 13 minutes into the opening period. Cashen Tighe scored the first of two early to make it 2-1, but Minnesota put three more on the board before things settled. A late period goal by Jesse Talakoski made the score 5-2 and provided life for the Stars locker room.
The teams played evenly throughout the second with no goals being scored until 17:58 when Tighe cut the Iron Rangers lead to 5-3. Momentum then swayed as the North Stars came out for the third scoring twice, both by Brad Thrower, in the opening five minutes to tie the game.
Just over a minute later Minnesota broke the four-goal run and scored to retake the lead 6-5. But the comeback would not be derailed as Kris Hamlin and Brendan Gillis found the back of the net to make it 7-7. Talakoski scored into an empty net, his second of the game, to finish off the Rangers.
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Confidence was high coming into a showdown with defending champion Fort Frances Lakers Saturday night. Confidence and Riley Corbin. After a sluggish game the previous night, Corbin bounced back with a tremendous effort against the Lakers. After giving up an early power play goal, Corbin stood tall all game repeatedly frustrating the Lakers. Goals by Hamlin and Gillis scored power play goals of their own to take a 2-1 lead at first intermission.
A second goal from Hamlin made the score 3-1 just 1:47 of the second frame and it proved to be all that was needed for Corbin. Fort Frances would outshoot the North Stars 50-29, but Corbin would deny the Lakers to win 3-2. The two victories also saw Corbin (5-3-0-1) go to the top of the SIJHL goaltender leaders with a .926 save% and league-best five wins.
Coach Gary Wenzel was thrilled with the weekend results, commenting; “Great weekend to build our team. Big comeback Friday night and solid team effort on Saturday against one of the best teams in the country. We had a productive week at practice and it carried over to our games. Everyone is starting to buy in and improve.”
On the play of Corbin, Wenzel commented; “Corbin was the best player on the ice Saturday making a number of game-saving saves that were unbelievable. With goaltending like that you have a chance to win every night.”
The North Stars are on the road next weekend facing the Dryden Ice Dogs (7-2-0-1) on Friday before traveling to Fort Frances Saturday. Both games will stream live via FASThockey. Be sure to follow the team on Twitter for up-to-date news and updates.