By Gary Moskalyk
Thunder Bay, ON – Dryden prevailed in a hard fought battle defeating Thunder Bay 4-2 before 647 fans at the Fort William Gardens. The win put Dryden into first place in the SIJHL standings with 5-1-0 record while Thunder Bay slid to 1-3-0.
Sean Smith scored two goals for the Ice Dogs to lead the way. Smith opened the scoring at 9:44 of the first on assists from Kaden Bandura and McLaren Paulsen.
Magnus Pearson tied the game at 7:21 on assists from Nolan Desjardins and Easton Glousher. Paulsen gave Dryden a 2-1 edge through two periods, with the help of Max Roby at 13:57.
Smith’s second goal, assisted by Ryland Maier, was the game winner coming at 13:57 of the third. Maier’s feed put Smith in the clear, and Smith fired one past Marks’ glove for a two-goal Dryden lead. The game was not over, however. Dryden took a minor penalty late in the third and Thunder Bay pulled Keenan Marks for a 6-on-4. The strategy paid off as EJ Paddington buried his 4th with assists from Edison Weeks at 16:32.
Thunder Bay pulled Marks again with time dwindling. Max Roby scored into an empty net with 12 seconds left to nail it down.
Ewan Soutar collected the win stopping 24 of 26. Keenan Marks shunted aside 29 of 32 in the loss. Soutar has two wins and a loss, a 1.68 GAA and .945 SV percentage in the early going.
Dryden was 0-5 on the powerplay while Thunder Bay was 0-4. Only 26 minutes in penalties were called but the game had plenty of bite to it.
Dryden takes round one of the best-of-seven regular season series. Game two is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.