Dryden, ON – October 23, 2026
The Fort Frances Lakers erased a two-goal deficit in the third period before securing a 4–3 overtime victory over the Dryden GM Ice Dogs on Friday night at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Fort Frances opened the scoring at 14:02 of the first period when Ayden MacKay found the back of the net, assisted by Anthony Yerxa and Cole Dowling. Dryden responded just 48 seconds later as Baden Pazdzierski tied the game, with Ryder Marks and Max Caddo picking up the assists.
The Ice Dogs took their first lead of the night at 18:42 when Ryder Wolfe capitalized on the power play, sending Dryden into the first intermission with a 2–1 advantage.
Dryden extended its lead early in the second period when Khalen Menger scored at 2:38, assisted by Aiden Clowater and Adam Zamecnik. The Ice Dogs carried their 3–1 lead into the third period, putting themselves in a strong position heading into the final 20 minutes.
However, Fort Frances mounted a comeback midway through the third period. Carter Peters cut the deficit to one at 11:56, with Lynden Gould earning the assist. Just 13 seconds later, Lakers captain Gunnar Simon scored the equalizer at 12:09, assisted by Luke Inman and Noah Hudson, bringing the game level at 3–3.
Neither team could find the go-ahead goal in regulation, sending the contest into overtime.
At 2:16 of the extra frame, Luke Inman completed the comeback with the game-winning goal, assisted by Gould, giving Fort Frances the 4–3 victory.
Lakers goaltender Nolan Koethler delivered an outstanding performance between the pipes, turning aside 48 of 51 shots to earn the win. At the other end, Dryden’s Josh Wu made 34 saves on 38 shots in the overtime loss.
On special teams, Dryden finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Fort Frances went 0-for-3.
The victory capped off an impressive comeback for the Lakers, who overcame a two-goal third-period deficit despite being outshot 51–38 by the Ice Dogs.
