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Shorthanded North Stars give up 8 in first, fall 10-1 to Iron Rangers

When the Thunder Bay North Stars are good, they can be very, very good. But when they are bad, it’s just ugly. Count Wednesday night’s Fort William Gardens contest against the visiting Minnesota Iron Rangers in the latter category.
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Thunder Bay's Kenny Turner takes a shot on Minnnesota goalie Anthony Pupplo Wednesday night at Fort William Gardens. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

When the Thunder Bay North Stars are good, they can be very, very good.

But when they are bad, it’s just ugly.

Count Wednesday night’s Fort William Gardens contest against the visiting Minnesota Iron Rangers in the latter category.

For the second time this season the North Stars were tagged for eight goals in the first period, seven on 17 shots before coach Jeremy Adduono put a merciful end to what was easily goalie Riley Corbin’s worst performance of the season.

They’d go on to lose 10-1, just the second time this season the North Stars have given up double digits to the opposition.

“To be honest, I think it was probably the first time in my coaching career that I wasn’t really sure how to react. I’ve seen slow starts and bad periods before, but it really was unexplainable,” Adduono said. “I don’t know the reason for it. It just seemed like we obviously weren’t ready to go and everything they shot just went in.”

It was a disaster from the start for the North Stars, who were playing without defencemen Joe Newhouse, Bryce Martyn and Jared Fanti and forward Charlie Corness, each serving league-mandated suspension for fighting over the weekend. Tyler Letwin was also on the sidelines, nursing an upper-body injury.

“We’re missing five defencemen,” Adduono said. “Pretty much we’re missing our entire d-corps minus (Aaron) Wesley-Chisel basically. So you’re already behind the eight-ball there. But it’s not an excuse for basically an effortless first period.

“It’s very frustrating as a coach because we prepare these guys. We watch game tape on a daily basis and we practice for the team we play. This is a team we’ve beaten the last three or four times in a row.”

Once Tristan Knott opened the floodgates for the Iron Rangers, the goals came in rapid order, who tallied four times in a 2:12 span, including goals by Dalton Johnson and Nolan Magsamen six seconds apart.

Johnson had a goal and two assists in the period, with blue-liner Tyler Lindstrom scoring twice – he’d complete the hat trick midway through the third, rifling a high hard wrist shot on back-up Tyler Lesschaeve, who stopped all but three of the 41 shots he faced.

It was Austin Ramirez’ s goal with 2:18 left in the opening stanza that chased Corbin.

Troy Sherman had the lone goal for the North Stars, beating Minnesota goalie Anthony Pupplo 11 minutes into the second.

For the Iron Rangers, the win marked the end of a 16-game losing streak away from Hoyt Lakes Arena, a stretch that dates back to Sept. 27, a 3-2 win over Thunder Bay. They were credited with a road win during the recent SIJHL Showcase, but the game was played at their home rink.

“We’ve struggled to score goals all year long, so I hope we’re not out of them,” said a relieved Iron Rangers coach Chris Walby.

“I hope we saved some for future games. But coming off the bus and getting off to a hot start like that, playing with house money, meaning we had money to gamble with, it’s awesome. We haven’t had a road win in a long time and this one felt good.”

Dan Sarnecki had a goal and three assists for the Iron Rangers, who also got goals from Alex Mimmack and Logan Forberg in the opening stanza.


FIRST PERIOD
Scoring
: 1. Minnesota, Knott 3 (Huot) 5:50. 2. Minnesota, Johnson 8 (Sabina, Madison) 6:34. 3.  Minnesota, Magsamen 6 (Karkinen) 6:40. 4. Minnesota, Lindstrom 5 (Sarnecki, Madison) 8:02 pp. 5. Minnesota, Froberg (Huot, Johnson) 13:38 pp. 6. Minnesota, Lindstrom 6 (Cuni, Forberg) 16:55 pp. 7. Minnesota, Ramirez 7 (Knott) 17:42. 8. Minnesota, Sarnecki 7 (Johnson, Arnold) 19:57. Penalties: Arabia TB (high sticking) 7:31, Robinson TB (cross checking) 12:31, Fortin TB (cross checking) 15:48.

SECOND PERIOD
Scoring
: 9. Thunder Bay, Sherman 1 (Arabia, Fortin) 10:53. Penalties: Sabina MIN (tripping) 7:29, Arnold MIN (tripping) 15:22, Lindstrom MIN (cross checking), Robinson TB (interference) 19:38.

THIRD PERIOD
Scoring
: 11. Minnesota, Lindstrom 7 (Sarnecki) 10:06. 10. Minnesota, Mimmack 3 (Sarnecki) 18:48. Penalties: Bennett MIR (high sticking) 3:22, Wesley-Chisel (slashing) 7:48, Shannon MIN (butt ending double minor) 8:58, Hamlin TB (high sticking) 9:15,

GAME DATASOG – Minnesota 20-22-16-58, Thunder Bay 8-14-16-38; Power plays (goals-chances) – Minnesota (3-5), Thunder Bay (0-5); Goaltenders – Minnesota: Anthony Pupplo, Thunder Bay: Riley Corbin (17 shots, 10 saves) Tyler Lesschaeve (17:42, first); A: 150 (estimated).



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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