Fort Frances swept a home and home series with Kam River and Kenora defeated first place Sioux Lookout 4-3 in overtime to highlight week three action in the SIJHL. Thunder Bay sent Red Lake two home losses their way, and allowed their first powerplay goal against of their year in the process (Now 96.0 per cent success rate on the penalty kill with a shorty).
Ironwood has yet to win in regulation, dropping a pair in Dryden by lopsided scores. The Ice Dogs have the top four spots in the scoring race, led by Emmanuel Nkombou (7G 7A 14 pts) and McLaren Paulsen (4-10-14). Matthew Ofukany of Sioux Lookout leads all goaltenders with a 2.00 goals against, and his partner Matthew Spencer-Dahl has a .938 save percentage. They join seven others with two wins between the pipes.
Eight games are on tap next week, featuring the first Thursday game of the year.
Here’s how week three shook out.
 | VS/AT FORT FRANCES LAKERS |  | ||
| The Lakers defeated Kam River for the time ever, and snapped a 12-game schneid at Norwest Arena. Nolan Koethler was named first star with his 42-save performance, including a penalty shot denial of Kam River's Kaden Goodwin in the second period. Jett Mintenko open the scoring on a goal mouth pass from Tie Schumacher at 2:35 of the first. Evan Kabel tied it for the Lakers with a blocker side goal past Ashton Sadauskas. Nicholas Fagnilli got his fifth of the year 43 seconds later at 7:07, clicking on Brodie McLeod's cross-ice pass for a 2-1 Kam River lead. It was all Lakers in a four-goal second frame. The first three were powerplay markers. Whitaker Heart struck with a point shot deflection. Brady Krentz scored on a one-timer. Ian Snooks made it 4-2 Lakers on a two-on-one with Kale Nelson at 16:27. Krentz got his second of the game with 22 seconds left with a glove side shot. Jett Mintenko highlighted a Fighting Walleye comeback with two goals in the final frame, netting him his hat trick. Dalton Lang's goal mouth feed abetted Mintenko's second goal of the game at 5:08. With Kam River down by two and Sadauskas pulled for an extra attacker, Mintenko's backhander tightened the score to 5-4 with 2:48 to go. Kam River couldn't find the equalizer however. Final shots favoured Kam River 46-30. The Lakers were 3-6 with the man advantage, shutting down the Walleye on all seven of their powerplays. Kam River took 26 of 47 penalty minutes assessed. Gavin Simon had two helpers for the Lakers. Mintenko's hatty was complement by two-assist performances from McLeod, Lang and Max Caddo. A crowd of 480 witnessed the action. |
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| The Lakers doubled down, taking a weekend sweep over the Fighting Walleye with 4-1 win in Fort Frances. The Lakers outshot Kam River 39-29 and rose to seven points in just five games. The Laker potent powerplay was a key factor. Kam River opened the scoring on Saturday, with Nicholas Fagnilli's sixth goal at 32 seconds of the second. It was sixes wild on the play. Brodie McLeod's perfect feed was his sixth assist, and Jett Mintenko's secondary assist was also his sixth assist on the year. It was all Lakers after that. Krentz got his fourth of the year at 5:37, maintaining the zone and then ripping a wrist-rocket high blocker side on Travis VanderZwaag on the powerplay to tie it. Carter Deschamps added a powerplay goal at 9:46, picking up a loose rebound at 9:46. Jack Wood snapped home his third of the year at 17:18 for a 3-1 Fort Frances lead after two periods. Wood got his fourth goal of the year and second of the game on yet another Laker powerplay at 16:06 of the third--Fort Frances' sixth powerplay goal of the weekend--for a 4-1 lead. The Lakers killed off a late penalty to seal the win. Koethler stopped 28 of 29 for the win. Travis VanderZwaag was tagged for the loss with despite making 35 stops. The Lakers were 3-4 on the powerplay while shutting down three Walleye opportunities. Nine minor penalties were called--five to Kam River. Attendance was 439. |
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 | AT RED LAKE MINERS |  | ||
| Thunder Bay snapped Red Lake's modest three-game win streak, creating a three-game win streak of their own with a 7-3 win at Cochenour Arena. Evan Simeoni led a six-man contingent of North Stars' point producers with a pair of snipes and an assist. Ben Laurette made 22 stops in the win. Matthew Lysak got the Thunder Bay crew off on the right foot, scoring the only first period goal, slipping one past Red Lake starter Trent Boryszczuk mid-way through. A total of seven-goals were scored in the second. Noah Tenney tipped in Gabe Tanton's point shot to tie it at one-all. Ryan Heuser scored from in tight 1:03 later for 2-1 Miners' lead. Thunder Bay struck for three in a row a 1:36 span to take a 4-2 edge. Tyler Jordan third of the campaign was a powerplay strike on a one-timer at 9:15. Less than a minute later Eric Sheriff put the Stars up by one on a rebound, five-hole goal. Keagan Jones got his first of the 2024-25 season on a three-on-one. Heuser drew Red Lake to within one, jamming in a loose puck at 12:08, but Simeoni's top shelf wrister bulged the twine at 19:14 to reclaim a two-goal Thunder Bay margin. Conner Larrett added an insurance marker at 7:53 of the third, and Simeoni made it official at 17:12 to account for the 7-3 final. Boryszczuk was tagged for the loss, making 21 saves in his two periods of work. Koen Webber saved seven of nine in relief. The Stars were 1-4 on the powerplay, while killing off Red Lake's three chances. Sheriff had two assists on top of his goal. Larrett added a helper. Tag Bryson, Beau Helmeczi and Easton Glousher added two assists each for the Stars. Heuser's two goals led the Miners. Dayden Collier and Tanton had two apples each in support. |
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| Tyler Jordan had two goals and an assist, Peter Forester had a pair of goals and Tag Bryson had three assists as the Stars swept Red Lake with a 6-4 win on the road. Keenan Marks made 29 stops to pick up the win. Thunder Bay saw leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 disappear until late markers at 17:50 of the third by Forester and an empty netter by Helmeczi with 14 seconds left salted away Thunder Bay's fourth consecutive 'W'. Jamieson Franz scored early in the first going top shelf on Koen Webber at 1:34. Tyler Jordan's fourth on a deflection of Turner Krahn's point shot at 11:37 doubled the Stars' lead. Dayden Collier shot over Keenan Mark's glove at 16:55 to narrow the lead. Kayne Pawlick scored on a Red Lake powerplay at 45 seconds of the second, snapping the Stars streak of penalty killing success at 20 to start the year. Marks played the puck behind the net, got tripped up, and was out of the play when Pawlick fired it in to the chagrin of the Thunder Bay bench. Jordan's wrister--his fifth of the season and second of the game-- gave Thunder Bay a 3-2 lead. Bryson Carlyle knotted the score at 11:04 on a tough angle effort through the five-hole. Forester's first of the game (and SIJHL career) put Thunder Bay up 4-3, but Kai Hughes tied it up 1:36 later on a rebound to make it 4-4. Forester's powerplay top shelf strike at 17:50 of the third put Thunder Bay up to stay. Helmeczi's empty net goal at 19:46 on a backhander from centre ice sealed the Stars' fourth consecutive win. Pawlick's two helpers and Collier's two-point night powered Red Lake's attack. Jordan added an assist. Bryson's three assists ties him for the league lead. Webber made 29 saves in the loss. Thunder Bay was 2-3 on the powerplay while Red Lake was 1-6. |
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 | AT DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS |  | ||
| Dryden used hat trick performances from Carson Devine and Payton Hu to garner a 9-3 win over Ironwood before 427 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena. Hu added three assists and Devine one, while Elias Eisenbarth and McLaren Paulsen had goals and assists each. Emmanuel Nkombou had three assists and Max Roby two to buoy the Pack attack. Kellan Mooney made 22 stops to secure the win. Dryden poured in five unanswered first period goals, led by Devine's three and two by Hu. Eli Antoine made it 6-0 before Aidan Charron scored on a Lumberjacks' powerplay. Hu got his hat trick midway through the middle frame. Jack Hanna replied for Ironwood. Paulsen scored shorthanded at 16:37 and Eisenbarth made it 9-2 at 18:01 of the middle stanza. Julian Calcagnino got his fourth of the year for Ironwood in the third period. Kole Kronstedt came on in relief played most of the game, stopping 36 of 42 in 52:34 of action for Ironwood. Sam Keene was the Lumberjacks' starter, lasting 7:26, stopping seven of 10, to take the loss. Dryden was 2-4 with the man advantage while Ironwood was 1-7. The 'Dogs had seven minors to Ironwood's five. Attendance was 427. |
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| Dryden romped to a 10-2 win over the Lumberjacks and grabbed a share of second place in the SIJHL standings. Emmanuel Nkombou had a hat trick and two assists to lead the way. Payton Hu had two goals and a helper, McLaren Paulsen had four points with a goal and three assists, and Eli Antoine added three points including a goal. Max Roby, Rylan Oatman and Evan Mayer had a goal and assist each. Braxton Castagno had 13 saves in the win. Kole Kronstedt was pulled after two periods, having sustained eight goals on 33 shots. Mathias Anderson shunted aside eight of ten in relief. Three Dryden goals were on the powerplay. Hu, Nkombou and Paulsen helped the 'Dogs go 3-6 with the man advantage. Chris Krtanjek scored a rare powerplay goal on an Ironwood penalty shot. Colin Baker had the other Lumberjacks' goal. Ironwood was 1 for 5. Ironwood took 38 of 64 penalty minutes meted out. The Dryden Memorial Arena was rockin' with 563 fans in attendance. |
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 | AT KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS |  | ||
| The Bill Salonen champs ran up a 5-0 first period score en route to a 9-1 win over Kenora on Friday. Tait Howell had two goals and two assists, Owen Carter netted a pair and passed for one, Alex Lucas had a goal and two assists, Cedrik Robidoux and Ty Kirk and a goal and assist each, captain Jonah Smith had three helpers and former Islander Aaron Bertschinger had two assists to lead the Bomber points parade. Brodie Wood and Sam Delaquis added solos. Nathan Horbas' second period tally was Kenora's lone goal. Lucas had the only powerplay goal of the game, making it 5-1 at 1:25 of the second. Sioux Lookout was 1-1 on the powerplay according to the official scoresheet. Matthew Ofukany picked up the win. James Sinclair took the loss for Kenora. A total of 58 penalty minutes were whistled, 36 to Kenora. Attendance was 293. |
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| Kenora head coach Gatlin Church had a positive pre-game vibe going into Saturday's contest against Sioux Lookout. His premonition proved correct, as the Islanders rumbled out to a 3-0 lead, watched it dissipate to zero through 60 minutes, before Glenn Murdock's overtime powerplay marker at 3:06 touched off a joyous celebration as the Islanders surprised the Cup champs with a 4-3 win before 275 fans at the Moncrief Construction Sports Centre. Ben Cailo picked up the win for Kenora in his first SIJHL action. Colin McCreight took the defeat for Sioux Lookout. Hudson Favreau capitalized on a lucky bounce goal at 2:52, and Deylan Watson counted on a rebound at 17:42 of the first period for the 2-0 Kenora lead. Josh Boyko netted his fourth of the season when he popped the water bottle on a top shelf snipe to stake the winless Islanders to a 3-0 mid-game edge. Alex Lucas shaved the lead to two with a roofer at 15:39 of the second. Sam Delaquis tightened the score to 3-2 at 9:52 of the third, going over the shoulder of Cailo. Owen Cotter's powerplay goal at 17:35 on a perfect feed from Jonah Smith completed the Bomber comeback. The Bombers, last year's least penalized team, took an overtime infraction in overtime. Defenceman Murdock, a pleasant surprise in training camp, drilled a one-timer through the pads of McCreight for the winner. Cailo wore number one on Truth and Reconciliation Night at the Moncrief facility and won his first start in heroic fashion. The Islanders picked up their first win of the year, while the single point keeps the Bombers in first place. |
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