THUNDER BAY – For weeks, Thunder Bay North Stars coach Rob DeGagne has been preaching to his team that they need to beat the teams in front of them in the standings with a little more frequency.
Last weekend, they split with the Kam River Fighting Walleye at home.
On Friday night, they took it to the host Dryden Ice Dogs, snapping a two-game losing streak to their opponent with a 5-2 win.
It’s a game that saw the Ice Dogs twice take the lead, only to give it away both times – the second time for good.
Beau Helmeczi, Acoyen Fehr and Tyler Jordan scored second-period tallies for the North Stars, who trailed 1-0 after one on an Emmanuel Nkombou goal that made its way past Thunder Bay goaltender Keenan Marks.
Alex Remenda and Eric Sheriff, into the empty net with 18 seconds to go in regulation, added insurance goals in the third period.
Jordan Wales had Dryden’s other goal, which put them in front 2-1 at 9:17 of the second.
Marks made 34 saves to earn the win between the pipes, while Noah Davis took the loss for Dryden, making 32 saves on 36 shots.
The win kept the North Stars within striking distance of second place at 22-10-3, which leaves them with 47 points, two behind Kam River and Soux Lookout and six behind the Ice Dogs (25-6-3).
Thunder Bay plays Fort Frances on the road on Saturday.
Sioux Lookout 9, Kenora 0: Tait Howell and Gursimar Mann scored a pair apiece to led the Bombers past the second-year Islanders.
Kam River 2, Red Lake 2: Zach Baumann scored with 5:38 to play in regulation to earn the Fighting Walleye a point. Jager Marshall also scored for the Miners. Max Wright had the other Kam River goal.
Fort Frances 4, Ironwood 1: Tie Schumacher had a goal and an assist to pace the Lakers to the win. Jack Wood and Evan Kabel had two assists each. Collin Baker scored Ironwood’s only goal of the night.
