THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – Newly acquired Thief River Falls Norskies forward Gregg Lee was impressive in his Superior International Junior Hockey League debut Wednesday as he notched a hat trick and assisted on another to help pace his current club to a 10-1 triumph over the Minnesota Iron Rangers at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Blair Lindholm got Thief River Falls going offensively midway through the first period before Parker Simonson’s league-leading 24th tally of the season at 15:35 proved to be the game-winner.
Lee upped the home side’s cushion early in the middle frame before Cameron Jones, with his first, at even strength and Jared Pedersen, via the power play, made it 5-0 after 40 minutes.
The Norskies kept coming in the third with Lee scoring twice to complete his three-goal night before Bryce Litke connected for Minnesota at 11:09 for his fifth of the campaign at 11:09.
However Thief River Falls kept coming and tacked on three more in the latter stages of the contest to round out the night’s scoring on markers from Cody Aarvig, another newcomer in Brett Piper and one more for Pedersen.
Michael Johnson racked up four assists in the victory.
Former Minnesota goalkeeper Jackson Nelson made 31 stops to record the win in his first Norskies’ contest.
Tyler Thompson started for Minnesota and suffered the loss while Rob Ivy also saw time in net with the duo combining to face 49 shots in defeat.
Photo credit: Allison Garrigan