By Gary Moskalyk
Thunder Bay, ON – Thunder Bay snapped a mini two-game slide with an 8-2 win over visiting Fort Frances. The Lakers are on a 13-game losing streak.
Jamie Fuchs registered a hat trick in his first game back since December 8th to lead the Thunder Bay charge. Colby Feist had a goal and three helpers, Liam Murdoch had a goal and two apples, Edison Weeks had three assists, Garren Voisey and Nikolas Campbell had a pair of assists each, and Matt Halushak, Noah Broughton and EJ Paddington added solos for the North Stars.
Ryker Watt and Kevin Bond responded for the Lakers.
The Stars had 11 players record at least a point. A late third period fight punctuated a cleanly played game before 225 at the Fort William Gardens. Fort Frances was 0-6 on the powerplay. Halushak’s goal at 1:08 of the second period was Thunder Bay’s lone marker with the man advantage in three opportunities.
Keenan Marks picked up win number seven turning aside 21 of 23. Brenden Stroble faced 49 shots in the Laker net.
The Stars set the tone with 20 first period shots, taking a 2-0 lead. They outscored Fort 4-2 in the second frame. Fuchs got his hatty at 13:07 of the third, followed Murdoch’s old-time slap shot from the right point 37 seconds later to polish off the scoring.
The Stars crested the 100-goal barrier with the eight markers. They trail fourth-place Red Lake by six points with five games in hand.