OLIVER PAIPOONGE – These Fish do not want to be caught.
They’re now a win away from a second Superior International Junior Hockey League championship in three seasons.
Riding a first-period goal off the stick of Brodie McLeod and a 32-save shutout performance from goaltender Ashton Sadauskas, the Kam River Fighting Walleye pushed the visiting Dryden Ice Dogs to the brink on Thursday night, their 2-0 win in front of a sold-out crowd of 890 at the Norwest Arena.
Kam River leads the best-of-seven Bill Salonen Cup final 3-1 and can wrap up the title with a win on Saturday night in Dryden.
The championship may be staring them down, but the Fighting Walleye have to keep pressing, Sadauskas said.
“I think we just do the same thing we’ve done all year, just stick with the process,” said Sadauskas, who recorded his third shutout of this year’s playoffs.
“We have a good team, so we know what we’re capable of. Just play our game.”
Coach Larry Wintoneak said the job’s not done, but he liked what he saw in Game 4, the Fighting Walleye not letting up with a 1-0 lead, unlike Game 2, which took a similar course in the early going, but slipped away when the Ice Dogs rallied with two late goals to pull out a 2-1 win, to date their lone triumph in the series.
“We can play defensively. We proved it all year. We’ve got the right personnel to do that, a very unselfish team here. I’m just proud of how we competed and how we battled. We use our whole bench, everybody contributes and they feel good.”
Take McLeod, for example.
A bruising defenceman, he found the back of the net three times in 38 regular-season games, but had yet to score in eight playoff appearances.
“He’s one of the kids who’s an unsung hero. He just plays so good defensively and doesn’t get the accolades for the offensive part of his game. Good things happen to good people. I believe in that and I have to give a lot of credit to the kid.”
The goal, the only one the Fighting Walleye would need, came at the 7:58 mark of the opening period, just 18 seconds after the Ice Dogs had killed off a two-minute minor assessed to Payton Hu.
“I came off the bench and (Zach Baumann) and (Carter Poddubny) were battling down low. I just found the opening, Puds found me and I just put it in the back of the net,” said McLeod, a Thunder Bay native.
“We get one and we know what to do. We’ve very good defensively and we have the depth to do it.”
Kam River was outshot 23-11 over the final 40 minutes, Sadauskas stopping everything directed his way.
“He’s the brick between the net for us. He’s very composed,” said Wintoneak, adding he’s watched the Parksville, B.C.-born goaltender mature over the past several months.
For his part, Sadauskas said his teammates made his job a whole lot easier than it could have been.
“They just let me see the puck, boxing guys out in front,” he said.
Poddubny iced with an empty netter with 15 seconds left in regulation.
The Fighting Walleye can wrap up the series on Saturday night in Dryden. Game time is 7 p.m. CDT.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Kam River, McLeod 1 (Poddubny, Baumann) 7:58. Penalties: Sargent KRW (cross checking) 2:14, Hu DRY (cross checking) 5:40, Scopick DRY (slashing) 17:19.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Kukko KRW (tripping) 0:14, Bench minor KRW (too many men, served by Debray) 5:02.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Kam River, Poddubny 4 (Baumann, Labelle) 19:45 en.Penalties: Debray KRW (boarding) 5:27, Mayer DRY (roughing) 10:14,
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 9-12-11-32, Kam River 16-6-5-27; Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (0-4), Kam River (0-3); Goaltenders – Dryden: Noah Davis, Kam River: Ashton Sadauskas; A: 890.
