Game 2 April 24
By Gary Moskalyk
Edison Weeks continued his hot hand scoring at 7:43 of overtime as the Thunder Bay North Stars defeated Kam River 3-2 to take a 2-0 series lead. The Stars have won their last five playoff games–four of them on the road.
Keenan Marks made 47 saves for his 8th win of the playoffs.
Weeks went top shelf from a tough angle at 3:35 of the first to open the scoring. Dimitri Trahiotis picked up his 5th assist and Drew Caddo collected his first.
Anthony Oviedo tied it at 5:07 of the second. Oviedo notched his 3rd of the playoffs, going five-hole from the slot. Ryan Doucette and Mackenzie Sedgwick assisted.
Matt Halushak’s point shot on a Stars’ powerplay gave Thunder Bay a 2-1 lead at 14:34 of the middle frame. Jamie Fuchs and Sam Skillestad collected the helpers.
Dylan Winsor and Kennan Reyelts battled at 14:15, drawing fighting majors and game misconducts.
The third period remained scoreless until 18:54. With Kam River goaltender Eric Vanska pulled for an extra attacker, Jack Cook ripped home his 10th on a one-timer from the point to tie the match, sending the 893 fans at Norwest Arena in a frenzy. Affiliate Logan Gallaher collected the primary assist, and Max Leduc added his 4th helper.
Kam River outshot Thunder Bay 44-32 in regulation, but the Stars had nine of the 14 in overtime. In a scramble in front of the net the puck squirted loose to Weeks and the team’s regular season points leader converted the opportunity for his 4th goal of the playoffs.
Jamie Fuchs had two assists for Thunder Bay.
Kam River took 29 of the 44 penalty minutes assessed by Kevin Bragnalo and Tim Vaillant.
Game three will be Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. Friday night will be the usual 7:30 start time.