Gary Moskalyk recaps games 5 & 6 to force game 7 in the two remaining series!
 | AT THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS |  | ||
| Thunder Bay surrendered an early lead then battled back to score four in the third period to defeat Fort Frances 7-5. Tyler Jordan had two goals and two assists and defenceman Tag Bryson registered his third goal of the playoffs and assisted on four to lead the surge. The Stars went up three games to two and can win the series Saturday in Fort Frances. A crowd of 713 witnessed a back and forth contest. Jordan got Thunder Bay on the board early at 38 seconds of the first with a low, stick-side shot from the slot. Eric Sheriff doubled the lead getting one under Nolan Koethler's pad at 12:41. Koethler had made of his best saves off Sheriff four minutes earlier. Jack Wood got his first of the playoff on a backhand pass from Gunnar Simon to narrow the lead. Brady Krentz tied the contest at 2-2 on a feed from Pierce Gouin. The Lakers forged ahead with the first two goals of the second period. Tie Schumacher's pass found a wide open Emerson Evans who counted his first goal of the playoffs at 7:17. Ness got his fourth of the post season 2:16 later, on a pass from Krentz. Chance Loke's shot from the point on a Stars' power play shaved one off the lead entering the third. Bryson tied the game at 4-4 at 47 seconds of the third on a Thunder Bay power play. The celebration, as exuberant as it was, was short-lived. Noah McPherson scored 14 seconds later to put the Lakers ahead 5-4. Jarred Feist got his first the second season at 7:14 to knot the score with Jamieson Franz getting his first assist. Jordan got his fifth of the playoffs and second of the game at 11:32 to put the Stars ahead 6-5. Bryson collected his fourth assist of the game on the play. The Lakers misfired on a 3-on-1 with five minutes to go in regulation. Koethler was pulled for an extra man with 1:40 left. Alex Remenda scored on an empty net at 19:05 for an insurance tally. Koethler left the cage again with 40 seconds left but the Lakers couldn't rally. Marks stopped 29 of 34 for the win. Koethler stopped 31 of 37. Fort Frances took six of 10 minor penalties. Thunder Bay was 2-4 on the power play while shutting down two Laker chances. |
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 | AT SIOUX LOOKOUT BOMBERS |  | ||
| Kai Hughes scored two goals including the game winner and Nick Peters made 35 saves as the Miners took a 3-2 series lead with a dramatic 4-3 road win at the Hangar The Miners can advance to the semis with a win at home on Sunday afternoon. Sioux Lookout got out to a 2-0 lead. Owen Cotter was wide open after Nick Peters made an initial save netting his third as the Bombers opened up a 1-0 lead. Jonah Smith and Ty Kirk collected their first assists of the playoffs on the play. Sage Roberts doubled the lead, collecting his own rebound at 18:13. Quinn Szpak picked up his own rebound and scored his third with 40 seconds left to reduce the lead to one. After a scoreless second period, Roberts netted his fourth of the playoffs from the corner of the net just 29 seconds into the third frame for a 3-1 Bomber lead. Alex Lucas got his sixth assist on the play. The Miners put themselves within range. Hughes scored his first goal of the playoffs at the two-minute mark. It was a controversial goal that took a minute or two to sort out. Corbyn Demchuk and Bryant Linklater garnered their first assists on the play. Red Lake yanked Peters with 2:17 left. Szpak fed defenceman Foxx McColl on a 2-on-1 and McColl buried it to tie the game at 3-3 at 19:09. Sioux Lookout outshot the Miners 4-1 in overtime. Ty Love missed on a premium chance three minutes in. Brodie Wood rang one off the crossbar a minute later. Noah Tenney's cross-ice feed to Hughes led to a top-shelf snipe at 4:12 past Matthew Spencer-Dahl for the game winner. Peters stopped 35 of 38 for the win while Spencer-Dahl made 38 saves on 42 shots in the loss. Szpak had a goal and assist and Tenney had two helpers for Red Lake. Roberts' two goals led the Bombers. Just four minor penalties were called, with Red Lake taking three of them. The Bombers were 0-2 with the man advantage. The Miners had no power plays (coincidental minors). Attendance was 383. |
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| AT FORT FRANCES LAKERS | | ||
| This hard fought series is going to game 7. Gunner Paradis stopped 37 of 39 and Fort Frances built a 3-0 lead to defeat Thunder Bay 4-2, staving off elimination before 821 fans in Ice For Kids Arena. The Lakers took a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes. Noah McPherson's wrap around at 13:14 on a power play got the Lakers on the board. Nolan Barker's low shot from the point beat Keenan Marks with 17 seconds left in the period. Brady Krentz registered his sixth playoff goal polishing off a three-way passing play with Ian Ness and Pierce Gouin at 1:29 of the second for a three goal lead. Connor Larrett scored on a 4-on-4, sneaking one barely over the line at 15:04, to get the Stars to within two. The Lakers maintained their two-goal advantage until late in the third. Tie Schumacher nearly increased it midway through the frame, hitting the post on a mini breakaway. The Stars pulled Marks with 4:12 left in regulation time. Combined with a Thunder Bay power play the Stars were on a 6-on-4 for a full two minutes. A mini fracas involving four players netted Thunder Bay another power play opportunity at 17:58. Chance Loke scored on a point shot with 78 seconds left to draw the Stars to within a goal. After the centre ice draw Marks hit the bench again for an extra attacker. Landon Lowes scored into an empty net with 14.6 seconds left to salt the win away. Marks had 31 saves in the loss. The Lakers took 22 of 42 penalty minutes. Game 7 is Tuesday in Thunder Bay. |
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| AT RED LAKE MINERS | | ||
| The visiting Bombers rallied for three unanswered goals in the last half of the third period to defeat Red Lake 4-1, tying the series at three games apiece. Game 7 is Tuesday night in Sioux Lookout. Matthew Ofukany made 36 saves and forward Alex Lucas led the Bombers offensively with a goal and two helpers. Jonah Smith corralled a loose puck on Nick Peters' doorstep and fired in his second of the playoffs on a Bombers' power play to open the scoring at 14:50 of the first. Nathan Dann tied it up 2:27 later, squeaking one through Ofukany for his second of the post season. The second period was scoreless as was the first half of the third. Lucas scored the game winner unassisted at 10:03, winning the draw, doing a spinorama move in front of the Red Lake net and deposited his fourth of the post season. Just a 1:10 later Ty Lone got his first of the playoffs top shelf with Owen Riffel getting his first assist on the play. Sage Roberts notched his fifth at 17:28 to account for the final 4-1 score. Lucas collected his eighth assist giving him a league-leading 12 playoff points. A fight broke out in the latter stages with frustrations high and the verdict in the books. Peters made 38 stops in the loss. Sioux Lookout took 27 of 44 penalty minutes assessed. |
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