THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay North Stars are a game away from the second round, but the Fort Frances Lakers aren’t making it easy.
Not wanting to drop Game 5 on home ice and face the prospect of having to win Game 6 on the road to stay alive in their Superior International Junior Hockey League quarterfinal, the North Stars dug deep on Friday night to pull out a 7-5 win at Fort William Gardens.
It was a game that saw them take an early 2-0 lead in the first, only to watch the Lakers score four straight goals to jump ahead 4-2 midway through the second.
After battling back to tie the game at four, the Lakers retook the lead just 14 seconds later, Noah McPherson racing down the ice to beat Keenan Marks with the go-ahead goal, the second – and final – time Fort Frances would take the lead.
It was just a matter of finding their focus again, said Thunder Bay defenceman Tag Bryaon, who finished the game with a goal and four assists, giving him seven points in five playoff games.
“I think when a best-of-seven becomes a best-of-three you get a little more tense, hold your stick a bit tight,” said Bryson, a Lloydminster, Sask. native who spent last season with the Dryden Ice Dogs before joining the North Stars in 2024-25, leading all SIJHL defencemen with 56 points.
“We got off to a hot start and we kind of went back to our old ways of the game before. Then I think we kind of figured it out at the end, so that’s all that matters.”
Trailing 4-3 after 40 minutes, it was Bryson who drew the Stars even, scoring just 47 seconds into the third, firing a high shot that changed directions before sailing over the shoulders of Fort Frances goaltender Nolan Koethler.
Then, down 5-4 and time ticking away in the final frame, Jarred Feist, who joined the stars midway through the season, found himself in scramble in front of the Fort Frances net and punched the puck over the goal line, evening the score 5-5.
Just over four minutes later, the North Stars took the lead for good.
Bryson fired a diagonal cross-ice pass to captain Tyler Jordan, who caught Koethler flat-footed and shoveled it home for a 6-5 lead. Alex Remenda, who had a goal and two helpers in the contest, added an empty netter with 56 seconds to go in regulation.
“If you like offensive hockey, that was the game to watch,” said Thunder Bay coach Rob DeGagne. “There wasn’t much defence by either team. Let’s face it, you score 12 goals in a playoff game, but we found a way to win and good teams find ways to win.”
The game-winner was Jordan’s second of the night and fifth of the playoffs, his first goal of the game opening the scoring just 38 seconds after the opening faceoff. Eric Sheriff doubled the Thunder Bay lead at the 12:41 marks of the first, but then the Lakers offence took over.
Jack Wood started the comeback at 13:56 and less than two minutes later Brady Krentz tied things up, slamming home a cross-crease pass from Pierce Gouin.
Emerson Evans put the Lakers in front at 7:17 of the second, stealing the puck at the blueline and firing it just under the crossbar. Ian Ness doubled the Fort Frances lead 2:16 later, but Thunder Bay’s Chance Loke got one back before the second period ended, his shot from the point redirected past Koethler, the first of two power-play goals the North stars would score on the night.
Koethler stopped 31 of 27 shots for the Lakers, while Marks made 29 saves at the other end of the rink.
Game 6 goes Saturday night in Fort Frances, with Game 7, if necessary, scheduled for Tuesday night at the Gardens.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Jordan 4 (Remenda) 0:38. 2. Thunder Bay, Sheriff 2 (Helmeczi) 12:41. 3. Fort Frances, Wood 1 (Simon, Couvier) 13:56. 4. Fort Frances, Krantz 5 (Gouin, Ness) 15:41. Penalties: Simon FFL (slashing) 4:44, Bryson TB (holding) 9:51, Wood FFL (hooking) 16:54.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Fort Frances, Evans (Schumacher, Lowes) 7:17. 6. Fort Frances, Ness 4 (Krantz) 9:33. 7. Thunder Bay, Loke (Jordan, Bryson) 13:24 pp. Penalties: Bench minor TBN (too many men) 4:34, Simon FFL (interference) 12:01, Lowes FFL (roughing) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. Thunder Bay, Bryson (unassisted) 0:47 pp. 9. Fort Frances, McPherson (Wood) 1:01. 10. Thunder Bay, Feist (Franz, Bryson) 7:14. 11. Thunder Bay, Jordan 5 (Remenda, Bryson) 11:32. 12. Thunder Bay, Remenda (Anton) 19:04 en. Penalties: Kabel FFL (unsportsmanlike conduct), Bryson TBN (tripping) 3:06, Evans FFL (holding), Sheriff TBN (roughing) 11:50.
GAME ATA – SOG – Fort Frances 10-11-12-33, Thunder Bay 15-11-12-38; Power plays (goals-chances) – Fort Frances (0-2), Thunder Bay (2-4); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Nolan Koethler, Thunder Bay: Keenan Marks; A: 713.
