THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay North Stars have evened up their first-round playoff series against the Fort Frances Lakers.
A night after being stunned in overtime by the Lakers after taking an early 3-0 lead in the series opener, the North Stars battled back on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens to earn a 4-1 win in Game 2.
Connor Larrett and Alex Remenda scored third-period goals to break open a 2-1 contest against the fifth-seeded Lakers. Tyler Jordan and Tag Bryson also scored for Thunder Bay, who finished 21 points ahead of Fort Frances in the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings.
Ben Exell scored for the Lakers, tying the game 1-1 at 3:35 of the second period.
Keenan Marks made 25 stops to deliver the win in goal for the North Stars. Gunnar Paradis allowed four goals on 29 shots at the other end of the rink.
The series shifts to Fort Frances for Game 3 and Game 4, starting on Tuesday night.
Kam River 6, Ironwood 2: The Fighting Walleye took a commanding 2-0 series lead on Saturday night, despite trailing 2-1 to the Lumberjacks after 20 minutes. Led by a pair of goals by Carter Poddubny, Kam River scored the final five goals of the contest, pulling a way with three in the second and two more in the third. Zach Baumann, Amar Powar, Kaden Goodwin and Jacob Lamoureux also scored for the Fighting Walleye. Aidan Charron and Felix St-Onge had the Lumberjacks scores. The series moves to Ironwood, Mich. for Game 3 on Tuesday.
Red Lake 2, Sioux Lookout 1: The Miners scored twice in the third to tie up their best-of-seven series against the defending champion Bombers. Gabe Tanton evened the score at 3:50 of the first and Fox McColl netted what proved to be the game-winner at the 10:46 mark of Game 2’s final frame. Owen Cotter broke a scoreless tie seven minutes into the second, giving the Bombers the early 1-0 lead. The series moves to Red Lake for Game 3 on Tuesday night.
