By Tanner Schafer
Fort Frances, ON – The Thunder Bay North Stars opened their weekend series with a low scoring win over the Fort Frances Lakers on Saturday Night.
The 1st period was a tight contest as neither team was able to find the back of the net. After 20 minutes of back and forth play with no penalties assessed Thunder Bay held a shot edge of 12-9.
The North Stars would open up the game in the 2nd courtesy of Colby Feist. 7 minutes into the period Feist scored a power play goal to give Thunder Bay a 1-0 lead. Carter Anton and Matthew Halushak recorded assists on the goal. Feist wasn’t done there; in the last minute of the period, he would once again find the back of the net on the man advantage giving Thunder Bay a 2-0 advantage heading into the final frame. The goal was Feist’s 11th of the year, and he was assisted by Edison Weeks.
The 3rd period saw a comeback effort from the Lakers as it was the only period, they outshot the North Stars. Keenan Marks kept them off the scoreboard for a majority of the period before surrendering a goal with 5 minutes left. It was Blake Ferris of the Lakers who killed the shutout bid with help from Kevin Bond. The Lakers would try unsuccessfully to find an equalizer and the North Stars would survive with a 2-1 win.
This game was all about the goaltenders as Marks stopped 30 of 31 to secure the win. Brenden Stroble was between the pipes for the Lakers making 36 saves. The 3 stars in order from 1st to 3rd were Colby Feist, Blake Ferris, and Brenden Stroble.