Before we look ahead to Round 2 of the SIJHL Playoffs here is everything you may have missed from the Miners 1st round series.
Game 1 Red Lake 4 Dryden 3
Ryker Watt scored two goals and assisted on Aiden Corbett’s game-winner at 15:43 of overtime as the visiting Red Lake Miners defeated Dryden 4-3 before 437 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Both goalies, Ethan Neitsch of the Miners and Christian Lynch of the Ice Dogs, stood on their heads, earning second and third star status in the process. Neitsch wound up with 58 saves on 61 shots while Lynch stopped 50 of 54.
They were tested in overtime. Red Lake successfully killed off two minor penalties in the extra session, Dryden one. Dryden outshot the Miners 10-9 in extra time.
After a bevy of chances for both teams a bad bounce resulted in a Red Lake 3-on-2. Blake Hiltermann fed Watt, who slid a cross-ice pass to Corbett, who in turn fired one past the glove of Lynch and in to give the Miners an exciting 4-3 win and 1-0 series lead.
Matthew MacPherson gave the Miners a 1-0 lead after 20. McLaren Paulsen and Tanner Skrypnyk countered for Dryden to take a 2-1 edge after 40.
In the third, Watt struck on the powerplay on a pass from Luke DeCorby, then scored at 4:59 on passes from Hiltermann and Corbett to put the Miners up 3-2. Carson Devine knotted the score at 3-3 at 11:55 on a Dryden powerplay.
Red Lake took 36 of the 50 penalty minutes given out. The Miners were 1-5 with the man advantage while Dryden was 1-6.
Corbett had two points and Hiltermann chipped in with two assists for Red Lake. Dryden’s Devine and Paulsen also collected assists for two points for Dryden. Game two is Sunday at 5:30 CDT.
Game 2 Red Lake 4 Dryden 1
Nathan Dann struck for two goals and Noah Davis stopped 31 of 32 shots as Red Lake took a 2-0 series lead–on Dryden ice no less–with a 4-1 win over the Ice Dogs.
Dann, a 19-goal scorer in 23 regular season games, scored two of the goals that helped the Miners to a 3-0 two-period lead. He deflected a Jared Burnett point shot past Dryden’s Ewan Soutar to open the scoring at 1:12 of the first.
Ryker Watt got his third of the playoffs, unassisted, at 3:33 of the second. Dann backhanded a rebound into the Dryden net at 14:27.
James Hooton, who, like Dann, was injured for much of the season, whacked in a rebound at 12:39 of the third period to give the Ice Dogs a new lease on the game. Ethan Cerone added an insurance marker for Red Lake 1:50 later, collecting a rebound and depositing his first goal of the playoffs on assists from Preston Tauter and Carter Deschamps.
Soutar faced 39 shots in the Dryden cage.
Red Lake had an 18-5-2 record at home this year as the Ice Dogs must win at least one game at Cochenour Arena to extend the series.
Neither team scored on the powerplay. Red Lake was 0-3, Dryden 0-5. The Miners took six minor penalties to Dryden’s four.
Game 3 Red Lake 5 Dryden 4
Aiden Corbett scored three goals and Noah Davis made eight saves in third period relief as the Miners beat Dryden 5-4 for a three-game stranglehold on the series.
Seven of the nine goals were special teams. Red Lake had four on the powerplay and Dryden scored two with the man advantage and one shorthanded.
The Ice Dogs scored the lone first period marker, the teams exploded for six goals in the second–three each, and Corbett notched two in the third to tie the game and win it.
Max Roby scored shorthanded at 9:05 of the first, after a Dryden steal in the Miners’ zone for a 1-0 Ice Dogs lead.
Eli Antoine doubled the lead from the right face-off dot on a Dryden powerplay just 37 seconds into period two. Red Lake got the next two to tie it. Ryker Watt got his third of the playoffs with Red Lake enjoying a 5-on-3 powerplay at 2:11. Corbett beat Christian Lynch high blocker side on a Red Lake powerplay for his first of three.
Carson Devine converted a centering pass to beat Red Lake starter Ethan Neitsch as Dryden re-took a 3-2 lead on a power play. Noah Tenney tied the game at 3-3 and Roby got his second of the game with 19 seconds left for a 4-3 Ice Dogs lead. Both Tenney’s and Roby’s goals were the only ones scored at even strength.
Head coach Lee Stone switched up Neitsch, who made 13 stops in 17 shots, for Davis to open the third.
The Miners pelted Dryden with 20 shots in the third, scoring two on the powerplay. Corbett’s second of the game came at 10:34 to knot the score at 4-4. With overtime looming Corbett went five-hole for his hatty and game-winner at 17:28.
The Ice Dogs pulled Lynch with 1:01 left but to no avail.
Dryden took six of the seven minor penalties whistled down in the third frame, and 11 minors overall. Red Lake was guilty of six minor penalties.
The Miners clicked on four of 10 power plays, while Dryden converted two of six chances.
Lynch stopped 44 of 49 for Dryden.
The Miners can sweep the series if they win Friday at home. Game time is 7:05.
Game 4 Dryden 5 Red Lake 4
McLaren Paulsen scored at 4:32 of overtime as the Dryden Ice Dogs staved off elimination with a 5-4 win in Red Lake. The Ice Dogs squandered leads of 3-0 and 4-3 but lived on when Paulsen deposited the game winner on a backhand top shelf shot past Ethan Neitsch from a tough angle to force a game five.
Sean Smith picked off a Red Lake pass and tucked one under the crossbar at 5:26 of the first to open the scoring for Dryden. Elias Eisenbarth doubled the lead, corralling a rebound off the post at 17:52.
Tanner Skrypnyk made it 3-0 with a backhanded breakaway marker at 1:44 of the second. Head coach Lee Stone switched out Noah Davis for Neitsch and the comeback was on. The Miners picked away at the deficit with the next three. Matthew MacPherson sniped high blocker side at 8:23, Noah Tenney clicked on Red Lake powerplay at 10:28, and Blake Hiltermann tied the game on a Miner 2-on-1 at 15:08.
Paulsen rounded out the second frame, deflecting a Ryland Maier shot late in the period for a 4-3 Dryden edge.
Gabe Tanton tied it up for Red Lake at the seven-minute mark of the third, depositing Gabe Tanton’s rebound for his first of the playoffs on the Miners’ powerplay.
Dryden had the only four shots in overtime. Paulsen ended the suspense fairly early with his second of the game from a nearly impossible angle.
Red Lake outshot Dryden 48-38 in regulation time. Christian Lynch shunted aside 44 for his first playoff win. Neitsch shouldered the loss, stopping 25 of 27 in relief. Red Lake starter Davis stopped 12 of 15.
Paulsen added an assist, Smith had a goal and a helper, and Eli Antoine had two helpers for Dryden. Tenney and Hiltermann had a goal and assist each, and Aiden Corbett assisted on two for the Miners.
Red Lake was 2-4 with the man advantage. Dryden was 0-3. Dryden took four minor penalties to Red Lake’s three.
A crowd of 324 attended. Game five is Monday at 7:30 CDT at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Game 5 Red Lake 3 Dryden 1
Red Lake is in the final four. Ryker Watt scored the game winner at 13:57 of the second and Ethan Neitsch shunted aside 29 of 30 shots as the Miners defeated a depleted Ice Dogs line-up 3-1 in Dryden. Red Lake took the series in five games and will now play Kam River in the semi-finals. Game dates have yet to be released.
Carson Devine opened the scoring for Dryden at 1:42 of the first, jamming in a loose puck for his third of the playoffs.
Luke DeCorby accepted a centering pass and buried one past Ewan Soutar at 9:15 of the first to tie the game on a Miner power play. Watt’s fourth goal of the playoffs in the second proved decisive. Watt went five-hole after picking up a stray puck. DeCorby garnered his third assist on the play with Gavin McIntosh getting his third playoff assist.
With time winding down in the middle period Dryden made a late dash. James Hooton fired a shot that Neitsch got his blocker on, deflecting the potential game-tying goal harmlessly to the corner as the horn sounded–the save of the series.
Noah Tenney got the loan goal of the third, clicking on a Red Lake power play at 3:06 for an insurance marker. Dryden pulled Soutar for an extra attacker with 2:35 left to no avail.
Soutar also faced 30 shots in the Dryden cage, the same as Neitsch.
Dryden was missing several key players, including Geoff Bjarnason, Adam Zimmerman, Max Roby and Bryce Benfield.
Red Lake drew four of nine minor penalties assessed. The Miners were 2-5 on the power play while Dryden was 0-4.
Attendance was 437.