THUNDER BAY – “We just needed one,” said Lou Vesperini, the hero of the Thunder Bay North Stars come-from-behind win Saturday night over the visiting Wisconsin Lumberjacks.
For 32 minutes, the North Stars were unable to crack Wisconsin goaltender Kyler Lowden, who held them at bay for the entire 60 the night before, shutting down a potent Thunder Bay offence that had led the Superior International Junior Hockey League team to seven straight wins.
It was starting to look like a two-game winless streak might be the story line coming out of the rematch. Instead Vesperini found the back of the net twice, including the electrifying game-winner with 2:47 to go in regulation and the Stars escaped with a 3-2 triumph.
“We had so many shots the past two games and they just didn't go in,” said the Montreal native, who upped his season total to five with his effort.
The dam finally broke at the 12:16 mark of the middle frame, Vesperini and captain Hunter Foreshew making a beeline for the Wisconsin goal, a solitary defender in their way.
Vesperini faked a pass and fired low, beating Lowden with a shot that never left the Fort William Gardens ice surface.
“I always say to the guys that goals are like bananas or grapes – they come in bunches,” said Thunder Bay coach Rob DeGagne.
“It was big that we scored that goal because it just lifted all the weight off their shoulders and they said, 'Geez, we can beat this guy,' because (Lowden) was playing good. He was looking like he wasn't going to let anything in. All of a sudden you get one and then you get another one and then the momentum changed.”
Trailing 2-1, the Stars (8-2-0) evened it up midway through the third, Anthony Kuzenko completing a tic-tae-toe passing play, burying a redirected pass from Dimitri Trahiotis, Lowden caught looking the other way on the bang-bang play.
The winner came seven minute later, affiliate call-up Noah Broughton engineering the play and taking the initial shot, Vesperini charging the net and bashing home the winner, crashing into the end boards on his back, his arms pumping in celebration nonetheless.
“I just kept skating on (Noah's) shot ... and just skated my (tail) off to get there and score,” Vesperini said of the winner, giving most of the credit to Broughton for making the play possible.
Like they did on Friday, it was the Lumberjacks who struck first, Jake Smith beating Jordan Smith – who didn't dress on Friday night – with 55 seconds to go in the opening period.
Ryder McMillen doubled the lead on the power play at 10:24 of the second, rifling a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that flew past Smith untouched into the Thunder Bay net.
The Stars had a couple of great chances to net the equalizer in the early stages of the third. Vesperini found himself staring at an open net, but couldn't get his stick on the puck. Two minutes later a crease-hugging Jack Michaelis tipped a Raj Sangha shot, but the puck bounced into Lowden's waiting glove.
The North Stars are off for eight days, returning to the ice next Sunday for a fifth straight home-ice date with the Lumberjacks.
Star gazing: Thunder Bay forward Dawson Lampi broke his jaw in two places on Friday and will miss six to eight weeks ... Wisconsin dropped to 3-4-1 with the loss.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Wisconsin, Smith 3 (McMillan) 19:05. Penalties: Hacker WIS (cross checking) 2:16,
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Wisconsin, McMillan 2 (Weimer) 10:24 pp.3. Thunder Bay, Vesperini 4 (Sangha) 12:16. Penalties: McMillan WIS (tripping) 4:58, Sangha TB (cross checking) 9:56.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Thunder Bay, Kuzenko 2 (Trahionis, Young) 10:06. 5. Thunder Bay, Vesperini 5 (Broughton) 17:13. Penalties: None.
GAME DATA – SOG – Wisconsin 14-12-3-29, Thunder Bay 9-16-9-34; Power plays (goals-chances) – Wisconsin (1-1), Thunder Bay (0-2); Goaltenders – Wisconsin: Kyler Lowden, Thunder Bay: Jordan Smith; A: 250
