By Gary Moskalyk
Kenora, ON – Kam River advanced to the semi-finals, scoring four unanswered third period goals to break open a 5-3 game and defeat the Kenora Islanders 9-3 in Vermillion Bay, ON. The Walleye will face Dryden or Red Lake. Sioux Lookout takes on Thunder Bay in the other semi-final series.
Kaden Goodwin scored two powerplay goals 49 seconds apart to open the third period to essentially put the game on ice. Evan Lachimea and Jett Mintenko added even more insurance. Both tallied their third goals of the playoffs, Lachimea at 8:50 and Mintenko at 16:59. Goodwin leads all playoff snipers with six goals. Mintenko is tied with Edison Weeks of Thunder Bay with 11 points.
Seven Walleye players had two points. Ryan Daponte, Carter Nailen, Mintenko and Carter Poddubny had a goal and assist each. Edwin Liang and Sam Sargent had two assists each. Caleb Labelle added a solo tally.
Grady Priest had two goals, and John Paul Scaringi chipped in with two assists for the Islanders. Brayden Mackay was the other Islander goal scorer. Travis VanderZwaag was the winning goalie. Kaden King shouldered the loss for Kenora.
Shots were not available at press time.
The Islanders hung in for two periods. They were down 3-2 after 20 minutes, and 5-3 at the end of the second. Priest pulled the Islanders to within a goal with his unassisted marker at 4:12 of the second to make it 4-3. Priest went end-to-end on a solo dash. Nailen clicked on a rebound at 12:38 of the second to re-establish a two-goal Kam River cushion, before the third period Walleye eruption put the game away.
Goodwin had both of Kam River’s powerplay goals. The Walleye penalty kill nullified four Kenora chances.
Both teams took four minor penalties each. Kam River also picked up a 10-minute misconduct.
The Miners lead their series against Dryden three games to one. They lost game four in overtime and now face the Ice Dogs in Dryden for game five on Monday.