RED LAKE, Ont. – The Fort Frances Lakers rallied from a two-goal second period deficit and eventually prevailed for the their third Superior International Junior Hockey League victory in a row Friday as they defeated the Red Lake Miners 4-3 in a shootout at Cochenour Arena.
Some hard work early from Tucker Evans helped the Miners strike early as he drove in and buried his third of the season just 1:44 in.
Red Lake then went up by two later in the first frame as Jordan Baranesky connected on the power play.
Fort Frances got on the board four and a half minutes into the second stanza when a MacKenzie Flett attempt from the right point clipped off Flynn Perry and changed direction before finding its way into the open side.
Coming right back, the Miners went up 3-1 as Ethan Stuckless made no mistake from the top of the crease as he finished off the work from behind the net of Ryan Howe and Kyle Uzelman.
The Lakers pulled to within one at 8:16 during a man advantage opportunity as Jack Lane fed a charging Noah Loveday going to the net as he finished off a tap in from close range.
In the third, the visitors forced overtime midway through as Nick Hahkala notched the equalizer.
After a scoreless five-minute OT, extra shots were needed to determine a winner.
There, Lane with some crafty stick work and Uzelman, who went bar down, tied it one apiece through the first three rounds.
On the fourth attempt by Fort Frances, Loveday snapped a shot glove side that beat Red Lake starter Zach Willms to give the guests the edge.
Then needing to score, the Miners were thwarted by Lakers netminder Dylan Kosik, to end as the Lakers skated away with the extra point on the night.
Shots on goal favoured Red Lake by a 31-28 count.
Photo credit: Patrick Boucha