Photos: Kerri-Ann Kanceruk – Kanceruk Photography
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.
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AT/VS FORT FRANCES LAKERS |
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| 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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