SPOONER, Wis. – A Zach Grzelewski goal with 6:26 remaining proved to be
the difference as the Thunder Bay North Stars edged the Minnesota Iron Rangers
3-2 Wednesday afternoon in the opener of the Superior International Junior
Hockey League’s Showcase at the Spooner Ice House.
The first period was
scoreless until late in the session when Minnesota’s Trevor Hoth took a feed
from behind the net and quickly went top shelf on Thunder Bay starter Eric
Mann.
A harmless looking play resulted in the equalizer for the North
Stars early in the middle stanza as Cary Brown lifted the puck towards the net
from the corner to see it bounce off the mask of Minnesota goaltender Erick
Majerle and into the net.
The Iron Rangers retook the lead striking
shorthanded thanks to Matt Audet, but Thunder Bay received another fortunate
bounce to tie it at 2-2 when Matthias Gardiman’s attempt hit the skate of a
Minnesota defender and found its way into the open side.
A tight-checking
final frame saw the North Stars net the winner as the North Stars’ big power
forward Grzelweswki drove hard past an opposing defenceman and wire the winner
past Majerle from the right face-off dot.
With a power play late
Minnesota also pulled their netminder in the final minute and a half for a
two-man advantage, but Mann kept the Iron Rangers at bay to close the door on
the Thunder Bay victory.
Daniel Delpaggio chipped in with a pair of
assists for the winners extending a consecutive game point streak to 19 straight
outings.
Both goaltenders were solid in the one-goal game with Mann
making 41 stops in the contest and Majerle the victim of a couple of bad bounces
having 28 stops in defeat.
With the triumph the North Stars improve to
26-6-1-4 on the season while Minnesota slipped to 22-10-2-4.
The SIJHL
Showcase continues later today with the Fort Frances Lakers taking on the
English River Miners at 4:30 p.m. CT followed by the Dryden Ice Dogs and
Wisconsin Wilderness at 8 p.m. CT.
Three more Showcase games go Thursday
back in Spooner with the Miners and Iron Rangers tangling at 1 p.m. CT, the
Lakers and Ice Dogs meeting at 4:30 p.m. before concluding at 8 p.m. CT with the
North Stars and Wilderness.
GAME
SCHEDULE
DAY 1
Wednesday, Jan.
22
Thunder Bay 3 Minnesota 2
English River vs. Fort
Frances 4:30 p.m.
Dryden vs. Wisconsin 8 p.m.
DAY
2
Thursday, Jan. 23
Minnesota vs. English River 1
p.m.
Fort Frances vs. Dryden 4:30 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Thunder Bay 8
p.m.
