THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay North Stars were out-shot on Friday night, but not out-gunned.
The fourth-place Stars, back on home ice, downed the visiting Dryden Ice Dogs 4-1, scoring four unanswered goals to gain ground on their third-place rivals, with time quickly running out in the truncated Superior International Junior Hockey League season.
The Ice Dogs opened a 1-0 lead after one on Maxime Collette's league-best 41st goal of the season, but it's all the offence Dryden could muster against Thunder Bay goaltender Jordan Smith, who made 48 stops on the night.
Bradley Fortier evened the score with 6:23 to go in the second and William Demkiw scored what proved to be the winner 6:47 into the third.
Nolan Desjardins added an insurance marker late in the final stanza and Hayden Cattani sealed it with an empty netter with two seconds to go.
The Stars improved to 20-14-4 (.579), winning their third straight contest. Dryden slipped to 20-15-3 (.605). Thunder Bay has three games left, including a rematch Saturday night against the Ice Dogs. Dryden will play four before the schedule wraps up next Saturday night.
Red Lake 6, Kam River 3: In a game with potential championship implications, the Red Lake Miners stashed a little momentum on their side, doubling up the visiting Kam River Fighting Walleye. The Miners scored three times in the first and upped their lead to 4-0 less than three minutes into the second on Nic Bolin's second of the night. Ryan Howe, Jordan Baranesky, Mathieu Belanger and R.J. Dickie replied for Red Lake (26-6-2, .794), who led 6-1 early in the third. Holden Woodcroft, Dayton Clarke and Zach Fortin scored for Kam River (33-6-2, .829).
