Dryden took three of four weekend points to extend their unbeaten streak to four games.
McLaren leads the league in points with 49. His 20 goals ties him for the league lead. Carson Devine has 41 points (11G 30A) while Max Roby has 40. Payton Hu is 6th in scoring with 38. Eli Antoine and Emmanuel Nkombou reside in the top-20.
Kellan Mooney leads the league with a 2.25 GAA. Braxton Castagno is 8-3-1.
The Ice Dogs lead in power play opportunities with 123 and times shorthanded, 140. They’ve allowed seven goals while on the power play, and scoring seven while shorthanded.
Kam River is six points back. Their weekend sweep over Thunder Bay gives them a four-game winning streak. The Walleye have not played a second of overtime.
Jett Mintenko is second in production with 46 points (17G 29A). Daxton Lang is a point back (20G 25A). Kaden Goodwin has 33 points.
Ashton Sadauskas took over the league lead in goaltender minutes, 1068, and wins, 13.
Sioux Lookout played a tight pair at home, splitting with Ironwood, to drop into third place.
Alex Lucas has 37 points (20G 17A) to pace the team offensively. Jonah Smith’s 29 points (8G 21A) puts him in the top-20.
Matthew Ofukany sports a 10-2-0 record and a 2.41 GAA and .917 SV%. Matthew Spencer-Dahl is 6-4-1/2.84/.917 in the triple crown stats.
The Bombers have a seventh best 13.9% power play but a second best 83.7% penalty kill.
Thunder Bay slipped into fourth, three points out of third, two points up on fifth place Fort Frances.
The Stars have five players in the top-20 lead by Tyler Jordan’s 36 points (17G 19A). Beau Helmeczi, 33, Evan Simeoni, 31, Alex Remenda, 29, and defenceman Tag Bryson, 28, are the other four.
Ben Laurette is 10-3-0/2.69/.921 while Keenan Marks is 5-5-2/3.22/.905 in net.
Thunder Bay’s top-flight penalty kill still sits above 90 per cent (90.5).
The Lakers rebuild is showing results. Fort Frances has the second best power play is 30.2%.
Brady Krentz is ninth in league scoring at 35 points (14G 21A). Jack Wood has 12 goals and 13 helpers.
Gunner Paradis leads the SIJHL in save percentage at .934. Nolan Koethler leads the pair in minutes, 1,039 to 609. Paradis is 5-3-0, Koethler 7-6-1.
Red Lake is in sixth place, with just one regulation loss in their last 10 games. Nathan Dann has 30 points, Quinn Szpak, 27.
Rookie Koen Webber is 8-2-1, while Ethan Rau is 2-2-1 in limited action.
Red Lake is plus-14 over the year. They have yet to allow a shorthanded goal, the last team to not do so.
Perhaps Ironwood’s recent weekend split against Sioux Lookout points to a better second half for the SIJHL’s lone American squad.
Marshall Thomas’ 35 points (13G 22A) plants him in 10th place in league scoring.
The acquisition of goalie Trent Boryszczuk may rank as one of the best roster additions of the year. His 3-4-1 record and 3.08 GAA tell one story, his glittering .930 save percentage quite another. Kole Kronstedt, the main man in net to date, has 1,023 minutes over the year.
Ironwood has the fourth best power play at 22.9%.
Kenora’s struggles continue. The Islanders have a lone win in their last 10, two wins on the year. Gursimar Mann had a three-point game recently to take over the team lead in points with 15. Josh Boyko has 13 points in 18 games.
 | AT/VS FORT FRANCES LAKERS |  | ||
| Braxton Castagno made 38 saves as the Dryden Ice Dogs secured their 20th win with a 4-2 decision over Fort Frances before 372 fans at Ice For Kids Arena. Dryden watched a 3-0 dissipate into a 3-2 nail biter by the end of the second. Max Roby scored his 20th at 15:26 of the first to open the scoring. Carson Devine picked up his league leading 30th assist on the play. The teams traded four second period goals. Elias Eisenbarth redirected Adam Zimmerman's shot and McKale Paul's point shot through traffic gave the 'Dogs their 3-0 edge. Landon Lowes walked in from the corner and beat Castagno at 15:20, and Emerson Evans fired in a rebound with just 10 seconds left in the period on a Lakers' power play to narrow the lead to 3-2. Fort Frances netminder Nolan Koethler made 46 saves in this contest, none bigger than his robbery of McLaren Paulsen on a shorthanded breakaway 3:30 into the third. Karson Kerbes scored from the high slot on a Dryden power play at 15:51 of the third for a 4-2 Dryden lead. Castagno made his best stop with three minutes left to preserve the two-goal margin. Koethler was pulled for an extra attacker with 80 seconds left to no avail. Castagno raised his season log to 8-3-1, while Koethler dropped to 7-6-1. |
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| The Lakers and Ice Dogs traded four power play goals playing to 2-2 draw before 538 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena. Goaltending figured prominently in this one. Gunner Paradis improved his league leading save percentage to .934, stopping 60 of 62 shots. Dryden's Kellan Mooney stopped 37 of 39. Brady Krentz popped the water bottle behind Mooney at exactly 10 minutes of the first, going blocker side for his 14th of the year. Dryden went ahead 2-1 before the period was out. Max Roby connected for his 20th, deking Paradis and backhanding in the game-tier at 14:10. Elias Eisenbarth collected his 8th with 45 seconds left. McLaren Paulsen garnered his second assist giving him 29 on the year. Roby got the secondary helper, giving him 20 goals, 20 assists and 40 points on the campaign--one of three players in the 20/20 club. After a scoreless second, Jack Wood's howitzer at 15:55 of the third tied the score. Paulsen made a late dash in regulation time drawing a Fort Frances' penalty with seven seconds left in regulation. The Lakers won the ensuing draw to send the game to overtime, and then killed off the remaining 1:53 in period four. Dryden fired seven shots at Paradis in the extra session, but the Thunder Bay native handled them all. Mooney saved four in overtime. The SI's top two power plays were on full display. Dryden leads in power play percentage 30.9 to Fort's 30.2. Dryden has a six point lead over Kam River for first place. The fifth place Lakers have nine regulation losses in their 27 games, continuing their ascension to respectability. The Lakers were 2-4 with the man advantage. Dryden was 2-8. Fort Frances took 22 of 36 penalty minutes. Three players had two points. Krentz added an assist for Kenora, Roby had a goal and assist, and points leader Paulsen (49) had two apples for Dryden. |
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 | AT/VS THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS |  | ||
| Kaden Goodwin notched a pair and Ashton Sadauskas stopped 25 of 26 shots as visiting Kam River took sole possession of third place with a 3-1 win before 1,175 patrons at Fort William Gardens. Daxton Lang and Goodwin put the Walleye up 2-0 after one. Lang got his 19th just 1:09 in, scoring from the slot. Caleb Labelle got the primary helper, his first of the season, while Jett Mintenko collected his 27th assist of the year. Goodwin scored his 12th on a grade A chance, with Lang and Mintenko collecting their 24th and 28th apples respectively. In the second period, North Stars goaltender Keenan Marks made a great save at the four-minute mark to keep Thunder Bay close. Connor Larrett batted in a loose puck past Sadauskas as the Stars narrowed the lead to 2-1 at 14:53. Evan Simeoni registered his 16th assist on the play. Sadauskas made his best stop at 8:00 of the third, denying Beau Helmeczi on the doorstep with a pad save to preserve the 2-1 lead. Thunder Bay pulled Marks with 2:44 left in regulation. Goodwin got his second with 1:09 left into the empty cage to seal the win. Sadauskas collected his 12th victory, while Marks fell to 5-4-2 on the season. Final shots favoured the Walleye 27-26. |
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| Nickolas Fagnilli scored two and Ashton Sadauskas secured his league leading 13th win with a 29-save performance as the Fighting Walleye swept the weekend home-and-home with Thunder Bay, securing a 6-3 verdict at Norwest Arena. A crowd of 450 was on hand. The Walleye win coupled with Sioux Lookout's loss to Ironwood, gives Kam River sole possession of second place, six points behind Dryden. Thunder Bay led 2-1 after 20 minutes. Marcellus Francis converted Tyler Jordan's centering pass for a 1-0 North Stars lead at 4:13. Jett Mintenko connected on a two-on-one with Daxton Lang to tie it 1:14 later. Jamieson Franz' point shot past a screened Sadauskas at 8:05 on a TBay power play put the Stars ahead. Kam River took control in the second, scoring three unanswered goals. Carter Nailen's wrister glove side on Keenan Marks knotted the score at 2-2. Lang snapped home his 20th less than a minute later, and Max Wright scored shorthanded on a breakaway to give Kam River a 4-2 lead heading into the third. Fagnilli walked in from the point on a Kam River power play, adding an insurance marker at 6:29 of the third. Keagan Jones completed a give-and-go with Easton Glousher at 12:16 to make it a two-goal game. Defenceman Zach Lacasse secured his first point of the year with a secondary assist. Fagnilli's 10th of the year, unassisted, at 14:20, polished off the scoring. Sadauskas stopped 29 of 32 to raise his record to 13-5-0. He also leads the SIJHL with 1,068 net minutes. Marks, playing in his second consecutive game, made 34 saves on 40 shots. Affiliated goalie Brayton Levesque was on hand in the absence of Ben Laurette. Lang had an assist and Adam Kukko had two assists for Kam River. Jones and Francis added assists for Thunder Bay. The Walleye were 1-2 with the extra man, while Thunder Bay was 1-5. Kam River had six minor penalties to Thunder Bay's three. |
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 | AT SIOUX LOOKOUT BOMBERS |  | ||
| Cedrik Robidoux scored the game-winner and added an insurance marker as the Sioux Lookout Bombers maintained their second place standing with a 3-1 win over visiting Ironwood. Matthew Ofukany raised his record to 10-2-0 with a 20-save effort. Trent Boryszczuk stopped 47 of 50 in the loss. Alex Lucas reached the 20-goal plateau, jamming in the ice breaker at 4:50 of the first. Collin Baker replied for Ironwood with 49 seconds left in the initial frame, firing a blocker side bullet past Ofukany. Robidoux' fifth and sixth goals of the year came at 7:45 and 12:22 of the second. Robidoux scored from the side of the net, and then went five-hole on Boryszczuk after a face-off win. The teams battled through a scoreless third. Owen Cotter assisted on both of Robidoux' goals to raise his season haul to 14 helpers. The Bombers killed off five Ironwood power plays. The Lumberjacks nullified Sioux Lookout's lone chance. Attendance was 317. |
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| Ironwood's Aidan Charron scored with 24 seconds left in regulation as the Lumberjacks pulled off a 3-2 upset before 387 fans at the Hangar. Trent Boryszczuk made 56 saves for the Lumberjacks. After a scoreless first, Eric Blazino found an open Ty Love for a 1-0 Bomber lead at 3:07 of the second. Marshall Thomas deflected Charron's point shot at 16:07 to knot the score. Mahekun Laroche put the Bombers up 2-1 at 1:20 of the third for his first goal of the season, putting the puck through the pads of Boryszczuk. Chase Krtanjek scored from an impossible angle at 5:09, shooting from the far boards, to tie the score at 2-2. Charron's game winner with overtime looming was an unassisted goal. He stole the puck and chipped it over Spencer-Dahl's shoulder for a much needed Lumberjacks' win. Spencer-Dahl spent a scant 12 seconds on the bench for an extra attacker, as the Lumberjacks successfully killed the clock in the dying moments for their fourth win. Charron garnered three points for the 'Jacks and was selected first star, although Boryszczuk was certainly a candidate. Boryszczuk pushed his save percentage to .930 on the year--second to Gunner Paradis' .934 with the Lakers. Just three minor penalties, one per period, were called. Ironwood took two of them. |
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 | AT/VS KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS |  | ||
| Flynn Maxcy scored two goals and Koen Webber had 21 saves as the Miners defeated Kenora 5-2 at Woodland Arena. Red Lake outshot the Islanders 45-23, to stay within four points of Fort Frances with three games in hand. Maxcy scored the only first period goal. Ethan Beattie, who made 15 saves for Kenora in the first period, backhanded the puck right on to Maxcy's stick who buried the gift for his fifth on the year. Kenora tied the game at 44 seconds of the middle frame. Danielson got his fifth of the campaign with Konnor Sapp assisting. Maxcy got his second of the contest at 16:39 for a 2-1 Miners' lead. Red Lake scored three of the four third period goals to put the game away. Ryan Heuser tipped in Kayne Pawlick's pass at 4:03. Kenora responded 1:33 later. Hayden Seib buried a failed Red Lake clearing attempt with a backhander for his sixth. Euan Morrison scored mid-period, and defenceman Justin Gelderland scored an empty net goal at 19:09---his first of the year--to put a stamp on it. |
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| Red Lake's Jager Marshall registered a hat trick, Quinn Szpak had a goal and three helpers, Nathan Dann had two goals and an assist and Kayne Pawlick had three helpers as the Miners rumbled out to a 5-0 lead en route to an 11-3 drubbing of Kenora. The game's outcome was decided early as the Miners parlayed 23 first period shots into four goals. Matthew MacPherson, Dann, Ryan Heuser, and MacPherson again at 16:56--his third of the season--got Red Lake off to a fast start. The Miners scored four of the five second period goals. Dann notched his 16th at the 10 second mark. Konnor Sapp got the Islanders on the board 36 seconds later. Noah Tenney, and Marshall's first two goals 21 seconds apart, made it 8-1. Seib made it 8-2, Marshall got his hatty at 8:21, Kai Hughes's fifth made it 10-2, Gursimar Mann scored unassisted for Kenora, and Szpak got his ninth at 19:53 to finalize the score. Mann figured in on all three of Kenora's goals. Fourteen of 18 Miners hit the scoresheet. Hughes added an assist, and Euan Morrison and Bradyn Rowsell had two assists for Red Lake. Koen Webber stopped 19 of 22 to improve his record to 8-2-1. Ron Cailo came on in relief of Ethan Beattie at 10:22 of the first frame. Beattie stopped eight of 11, while Cailo shunted aside 32 of 40. |
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