THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – An Isaac Baron power play tally on a goalmouth scramble near the eight-minute mark of the third period was the difference maker as the Thief River Falls Norskies went on to edge the Wisconsin Lumberjacks 3-2 in a Superior International Junior Hockey League New Year’s Eve match-up Tuesday evening at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Thief River Falls opened the scoring at 16:35 of the opening frame as captain Bryce Johnson knocked in his 12th of the season.
Wisconsin countered with the equalizer just over a minute later as Lukas Lundgren blocked a shot near his own blueline, then skated down the ice, fired a shot then collected his own rebound and slid the puck past Norskies starter Seth Purcilly.
Lundgren then added his second of the night at 13:49 of the middle stanza as he knocked one in from the top of crease that just managed to find its way into the net.
Answering back late in the session, Jack Michels snapped in his 18th of the season off a Tyler Johnson faceoff win to help extend a consecutive game point streak to 14 straight outings.
On the man advantage in the final frame, Baron got the game-winner after kicking the puck towards the net where it lay on the goal line before he eventually stuffed it in with his stick in what proved to be the night’s final goal.
Thief River Falls out shot Wisconsin 52-32 overall with Purcilly picking up the win while Hunter Adams suffered the narrow setback.
Photo credit: Tim Benton