By Gary Moskalyk
Thunder Bay, ON – Tyler Jordan notched a hat trick, Dimitri Trahiotis had his second consecutive two-goal game and Thunder Bay put up three goals in each period as they defeated Kenora 9-1 before 362 fans at the Gardens. The win gives the Stars 51 points, good for second place in the tight SIJHL standings, three points back of Sioux Lookout. Keenan Marks stopped 20 of 21 shots for his 16th win.
Beau Helmeczi opened the scoring at 7:41 of the first, and Jordan tacked on a pair at 13:53 and 14:38 for a 3-0 lead.
Connor Larrett notched his 5th of the campaign at 2:01 of the second on a Thunder Bay powerplay. Aaron Bertschinger broke Keenan Marks shutout bid at 7:54 of the second on an Islander powerplay. Bertschinger leads the Islanders with 14 goals. Jordan got his hat trick at 12:24, giving his 23 on the season, one off the team lead.
Trahiotis got his first goal at 19:22 with Thunder Bay up a man to make it 6-1.
In the third, EJ Paddington, Trahiotis and Edison Weeks connected. Marks picked up his first assist of the year on Weeks’ goal at 10:10.
Kenora took 34 of the 50 penalty minutes assessed. The second period was particularly physical with 13 infractions whistled down. Thunder Bay was 2-7 on the powerplay while the Islanders connected once on three opportunities.
Kaden King faced 66 shots in the Kenora net.
Larrett and Weeks also picked up assists, Garren Voisey had three helpers, and Alex Remenda assisted on a pair.
The Stars next play against Kam River at Norwest on February 9th. Kenora returns to action Tuesday afternoon to face the Fort Frances Lakers at Woodland Arena in Vermillion Bay.