THUNDER BAY – McLaren Paulsen has a flair for the dramatic.
The Dryden Ice Dogs forward scored 58 seconds into overtime on Friday night, earning his team a 5-4 triumph, ending the Thunder Bay North Stars winning streak at nine while pushing Dryden’s to eight.
The two teams entered play tied atop the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings with identical 9-2-0 records.
The goal was Paulsen’s third of the night and ninth of the season, and put to rest any thoughts of an improbable North Stars comeback bid.
The Stars trailed 4-1 with five minutes to go in the second, but stormed back with three straight goals to send the game to overtime.
Marcellus Francis cut the Ice Dogs lead to 5-3 with 1:12 left in the second, then potted his second of the night at 12:12 of the third to make it a 5-4 contest. Alex Remenda tied things up at 14:45 with his eighth of the season.
Evan Simeoni had Thunder Bay’s other goal, opening the scoring at 17:24 of the first. Paulsen tied it with 23 seconds left in the opening frame. Eli Antoine and Max Roby scored back-to-back goals in the second to give Dryden a 3-1 lead.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Kam River 5, Red Lake 3: The Fighting Walleye scored three unanswered goals in the third period to rally for a win in the team’s first game in the post-Dwight Lee era. Goals by Tie Schumacher, Jett Mintenko and Max Wright helped erase a 3-2 Miners lead after 40 minutes. Carter Poddubny had a pair for the Fighting Walleye (6-5-0), who led 2-1 after one. Jager Marshall, Quinn Szpak and Dayden Collier scored for host Red Lake (5-6-0).
Sioux Lookout 3, Ironwood 1: Ty Kirk, Alex Lucas and Owen Riffel provided the offence and Matthew Ofukany made 25 saves in net to lead the Bombers (6-4-1) to the win. Jack Carruthers had the lone goal for the Lumberjacks (2-9-1).
Kenora 3, Fort Frances 3: The Lakers Kobie Anderson scored with 32 second left in regulation to send the game to overtime, where nothing was solved and the two teams settled for a 3-3 tie, the SIJHL having eliminated the shootout this season. Ethan Hall, Keestin Danielson and Josh Boyko scored for the Islanders (1-9-2). Ian Ness and Ian Snooks had the other Fort Frances goals. Fort Frances improved to 5-4-2.
