THUNDER BAY – The Dryden Ice Dogs are a big physical team, and they use their size to their advantage.
On Wednesday night they outmuscled the Thunder Bay North Stars from start to finish, limiting the home team to just eight shots in each of the first two periods and minimizing scoring chances all night long.
It paid off, the Ice Dogs capturing their third straight Superior International Junior Hockey League contest, holding off a late-charging North Stars team to earn a 3-2 win and a mid-week series sweep at Fort William Gardens.
“It means a lot for us,” said forward Tyler Earl, whose early third-period goal gave the Ice Dogs a 2-0 cushion at the time.
“I know we’re quite close to a lot of teams and I think if we pull off these next two against Sioux Lookout will finish second (before Christmas), and we’d be getting closer to our goal here, first place.”
It was the physical play that was the difference, he said.
“We went over the game plan before the game and we executed it to the best of our ability,” said Earl, who also had an assist on Max Roby’s opening goal, which came with 2:53 to go in the first.
For the North Stars (11-8-3), it was the inability to create quality chances for most of the night that kept them off the score sheet.
“I think it was just inconsistencies,” said captain Matthew Halushak, who gave the Stars a chance with goal at the 16:55 mark of the third, cutting Dryden’s two-goal lead to one.
“We’ve had spurts where we’re working hard and using our speed to our advantage here in this rink, but I think it was just inconsistencies. You saw at the end, when we skate, move the puck and get pucks to the net, good things happen. But we’ve got to do that for the full 60.”
It was a bit of misfortune that might have sent the momentum swinging Dryden’s way.
Deep in Ice Dog territory, Magnus Pearson kept the play alive on a turnover, but the puck exited the Dryden zone, where Jonah DesRosiers blistered a shot from five feet above the blue-line, the puck making a beeline for the back of the opposition net, Dryden goaltender Eric Clark unable to catch up to the blurry rubber.
Unfortunately for the North Stars, the puck re-entered the zone about a half a step before a Thunder Bay forward cleared it going the other way, and the goal was waved off, the referee deeming it an offside play.
Roby one-timed a shot from the slot, beating Conner Lemieux for the game’s first goal, and Dryden (15-7-0) never trailed from that point on.
The two teams played a scoreless second.
Earl intercepted a D-to-D pass and struck early in the third to make it 2-0. Kaden Bandura scored into the empty net with less than a minute to play to restore Dryden’s two-goal lead, but the Stars weren’t done. Nolan Desjardins beat Clark at 19:34, but the puck got tied up, with Lemieux on the bench, behind the Ice Dogs net, and time ran out.
Thunder Bay is slated to host Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday nights.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Dryden, Roby 9 (Earl, Frattinger) 17:07. Penalties: Bench minor TB (too many men, served by Pearson) 2:48, Desjardins TB (slashing) 5:47, Pfoh DRY (slashing) 7:09, Hackl DRY (roughing) 9:27, Bertrand TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 20:00.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Halushak TB (misconduct), Anton TB (interference) 0:42, Rath DRY (cross checking) 3:45, Bench minor TB (too many men, served by Desjardins) 7:09, Frattinger DRY (cross checking), Desrosiers TB (boarding) 7:26.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Dryden, Earl 4 (unassisted) 5:12. 3. Thunder Bay, Halushak 6 (Weeks, Parker) 16:55. 4. Dryden, Bandura 2 (unassisted) 19:09. 5. Thunder Bay, Desjardins 3 (Winsor, DeRosiers) 19:34. Penalties: Roby DRY (roughing double minor, served by Koivisto), Broughton TB (roughing) 12:52, Feist TB (misconduct, misconduct, game misconduct) 14:30, Biagi DRY () 14:55.
GAME DATA – SOG – Dryden 10-11-13-34, Thunder Bay 8-8-11-27 Power plays (goals-chances) – Dryden (0-5) Thunder Bay (0-6); Goaltenders – Dryden: Eric Clark; Thunder Bay: Conner Lemieux; A: 405.
