By James Brohm
Sioux Lookout, ON – The top two teams in the SIJHL did not disappoint as Kam River made their first trip of the season to Sioux Lookout. 447 fans were treated to a high-scoring, physical game that required extra time.
The Walleye were first on the board 8:31 of the first period. Nickolas Fagnilli leapt into the air to knock down a clearing attempt by the Bombers. He walked in to the faceoff dot from the left boards and planted a perfectly placed shot just over the pad on the blocker side of Jack Osmond. The Bombers capitalized on their third power play opportunity of the frame. Sioux Lookout’s captain, Nolan Palmer scored to bring the home team back even.
The 2nd period was riddled with penalties, five infractions by the Bombers and two by the Walleye. The lone goal of the period came on the power for Kam River. Liam Bell picked up the puck behind the Bombers net and banked it off the bottom of the Bombers’ netminder’s skate into the back of the net. The Fighting Walleye took a 2-1 lead into the break.
Finally, the game broke wide open in the third period. Kaden Goodwin added to the Walleye lead at 5:47 with a nifty move on a partial breakaway. At 10:30 Ty Lone got the bombers back within one. Cobe Delaney with some fancy moves of his own went streaking down the left wing and found Lone all alone in front for the tap-in goal. Owen Cotter jammed a loose puck passed Walleye goalie Ashton Sadauskas, tying the game at two goals a piece with under three minutes left in regulation. Just a quickly, Nickolas Fagnilli got his second of the night less than a minute later to regain the Walleye lead.
The Bombers would not go away however, Blake Burke and Connor Burke both deflected a Dayvan Bull point shot, with Connor getting credited with the goal. All tied up again, the game would require overtime for a resolution.
The Bombers started the overtime period shorthanded after taking a tripping penalty in the dying seconds of the third period. Jett Mintenko ended the game with a laser of a shot on the 4 on 3 power play 1:43 into the extra frame.
Joshua Sargent was named the game’s third star for his phenomenal work on the penalty kill. Second star was Ty Lone who started the Bombers’ comeback in the third period and Jett Mintenko’s OT winner earned him first star honours.
The Bombers remain in first place but the Fighting Walleye inch closer and are now just three points behind. The teams will faceoff again on Saturday for another important game.