THUNDER BAY – Ryan Hunter may be the hottest Junior A hockey player on the planet.
He gave the Thunder Bay North Stars all they could handle and more on Wednesday night, scoring three times and adding an assist to lead the Red Lake Miners to an 8-6 win at Fort William Gardens.
The Toronto native upped his point-scoring streak to seven, notched his second straight four-point game and jumped into the top 10 in the Superior International Junior Hockey League scoring race, even though he was only playing in his 14th game since being acquired from the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League's Cochrane Crunch earlier this season.
Hunter, 20, has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points, averaging 2.28 points a night for the torrid Miners (19-3-2), winners of nine straight and hot on the heels of first-place KamRiver Fighting Walleye, 13 points back, but with six games in hand.
Things have just clicked since he joined the Miners, playing alongside veterans Ryan Howe and Jordan Baranesky, who leads Red Lake with 24 goals, second best in the six-team circuit, and boasts a six-game goal-scoring streak of his own.
“It’s a great feeling, but I couldn’t do it without my linemates, Howe and Nesky. They support me all over the ice, they look for me every shift and we have really good chemistry and we all play really well together,” Hunter said.
Miners coach Geoff Walker said Hunter has brought a little bit of everything to the Red Lake lineup.
“Leadership, obviously he’s putting up the numbers. But if you watch the game closely he plays the right way. He plays physical, uses his body and obviously he’s got probably the nicest shot in the league and likes to use it,” Walker said. “We acquired him early in the year and we’re lucky to have him.”
The trio combined for 11 points on the night, the first of a back-to-back set between the two clubs, marking the North Stars return to the Gardens for the first time in nearly two months.
“I’m just getting open. I’m hot right now, just got to keep going with the flow,” Hunter said. “This is probably the fastest I’ve gotten points.”
It was the Stars who got on the board first, Dimitri Trahiotis scoring the lone goal of the first, shoveling a backhander through the five-hole of Red Lake goaltender Kiev Kineshanko at 5:11 of the first.
Red Lake’s Elliott Parker and Thunder Bay captain Hunter Foreshew, who finished with a four-point night on a pair of goals, traded tallies 1:13 apart in the second, but Hunter evened the score on the power play at 14:47 and Howe put them in front less than three minutes later, potting his eight of the season. Edison Weeks knotted it at three with 1:29 to go in the period, but Hunter tipped a shot past Jordan Smith with 16 seconds left to give the Miners a 4-3 lead after two.
He completed the hat trick early in the third, Red Lake scoring three straight to lead by four. The Stars made a valiant comeback attempt late in the period, Dawson Nelson, Pier-Luc Bellard and Foreshew closing the gap to 7-6, with 1:54 to play in regulation, but Red Lake’s R.J. Dickie sealed it, putting the puck in the empty net with Smith on the bench for an extra attacker.
The North Stars, 15-11-3, were playing without coach Rob DeGagne, serving a one-game suspension for actions in Saturday’s game against Dryden.
Kam River 4, Dryden 3: Colton Crysler scored twice in the second and Alex Enegren netted the eventual winner in the third to lead the Fighting Walleye (26-3-1) to a 16th straight win, downing the Ice Dogs (18-10-1) on the road.
Fort Frances 3, Wisconsin 2: Dyson Germann potted a pair as the Lakers (3-24-0) won for just the third time this season. It snapped a 17-game losing streak, dating back to Oct. 30.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Dimtri Trahiotis (Demkiw, Davis) 5:11. Penalties: Halushak TB (roughing), Bellard TB (cross checking), Parker RLM (roughing), Rossetti RLM (interference) 19:45.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Red Lake, E. Parker 6 (Pool) 7:57. 3. Thunder Bay, Foreshew (Bellard, Vesperini) 9:10 pp. 4. Red Lake, Hunter (Bolin, Barenesky) 14:47 pp. 5. Red Lake, Howe 8 (Hunter, Baranesky) 17:11. 6. Thunder Bay, Weeks (unassisted) 18:31. 7. Red Lake, Hunter (Howe) 19:44. Penalties: Foreshew TB (slashing) 4:06, J. Parker RLM (unsportsmanlike) 8:53, Vesperini TB (tripping) 14:28,
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. Red Lake, Hunter (unassisted) 2:20. 9.Red Lake, Piekarczyk (Howe, Baranesky) 6:20. 10. Red Lake, Baranesky (unassisted) 9:14. 11. Thunder Bay, Nelson (Foreshew, Forrtier) 11:47.12. Thunder Bay, Bellard (Foreshew, Vesperini) 15:03. 13. Thunder Bay, Foreshew (Halushak, Kuzenko) 18:06 pp. 14. Red Lake, Dickie (Kramps) 19:06 en. Penalties: Kuzenko TB (high sticking) Bench minor TB (served by Nelson) 5:15, Bolin RLM (slashing) 6:46, Broughton TB (misconduct, game misconduct) 7:08, Weeks TB (boarding) 12:18, Darmenov RLM (boarding) 17:35.
GAME DATA – SOG – Red Lake 5-16-16-37, Thunder Bay 12-8-16-36; Power plays (goals-chances) – Red Lake (2-5), Thunder Bay (2-3); Goaltenders – Red Lake: Kiev Kineshanko, Thunder Bay: Jordan Smith; A: 200.
