OLIVER PAIPOONGE – The Kam River Fighting Walleye spotted the visiting Ironwood Lumberjacks an early goal.
It was all Fish from there on in.
The Fighting Walleye rolled off five unanswered goals on Friday night and captured Game 1 of their opening-round best-of-seven playoff series 5-1 at the Norwest Arena.
Daxton Lang, who led the Superior International Junior Hockey League with 35 goals during the regular season, scored twice in the second, the goals coming 75 seconds apart, the first knotting the game at a goal apiece, the second giving Kam River the lead for good.
Amar Powar, Jacob Lamoureux and Zach Baumann also scored for the Fighting Walleye, who will look to take a 2-0 series lead in Saturday night’s rematch.
Ashton Sadauskas made 22 saves to pick up the win between the pipes. Trent Boryszczuk took the loss, good on 41 of 46 Kam River shots.
Jack Carruthers had the Lumberjacks goal, beating Sadauskas 7:45 into the contest.
Fort Frances 4, Thunder Bay 3 (OT) – Ian Ness capped a furious Lakers comeback, scoring the overtime winner 58 seconds into the extra frame, helping Fort Frances battle back from a 3-0 deficit late in the second. Gavin Simon scored first for the Lakers, with just seven seconds left in the middle stanza, the goal coming 40 seconds after Thunder Bay captain Tyler Jordan gave the North Stars a 3-0 lead. Brady Krentz ad a pair of third-period goals for Fort Frances. Evan Simeoni and Tag Bryson had Thunder Bay’s other goals. The Stars will look to even the series on Saturday night at 7 p.m at Fort William Gardens.
Sioux Lookout 5, Red Lake 2: Alex Lucas scored twice in a three-goal third as the defending champion Bombers broke open a 2-2 game after 40 minutes. Lucas also scored late in the first, giving him a hat trick on the night. Brodie Wood had a pair for the Bombers. Foxx McColl and Quinn Szpak had the Miners goals. Game 2 is Saturday night.
