THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Joel Willan had a pair of impressive third period tallies while Seth McKay made 34 stops to record his first Superior International Junior Hockey League victory as the Thunder Bay North Stars defeated the Wisconsin Lumberjacks 6-2 Wednesday night at the Fort William Gardens.
The opening frame saw the league-leading North Stars strike twice with Kyler Basaraba stuffing one in from close range at 3:18 before Jacob Brown redirected a Thomas Young left point blast that dipped down and past Wisconsin netminder Nathan Mueller.
An early power play helped the Lumberjacks get on the board in the middle stanza as Tyler Shetland beat McKay with help from teammates Ryan Green and Cameron Birkeland.
Up a skater themselves a few shifts later, Brown bagged his second of evening by wristing one home from the right side.
Heading to the third, Cody Bruchkowski fired a low shot from the left of the slot that found its way in at 4:20.
Willan then produced a highlight reel marker by driving down the right wing and splitting the Wisconsin defence before snapping a man advantage effort into the back of the net midway through the session.
He then intercepted a play at his own blueline three minutes later and darted down the ice on a shorthanded breakaway where he calmly slid a shot underneath Mueller.
Still on the power play though, the Lumberjacks Joel Matthews came out from the end boards and nicely fired a shot through McKay with assists going to Cade Moreland and Braden LaPorte to round out the scoring.
Thunder Bay outshot first-year Wisconsin 56-32 on the night as they improved to a SIJHL-best 8-1 on the year.
Photo credit: Gary Moskalyk