By Brett Richter
The February month of travel for the Ironwood Lumberjacks continued with a two game mid-week clash against the Red Lake Miners in northern Ontario. Following an off weekend for all the team, other than the four All-Star representatives, the team boarded the Lumberjack bus early Wednesday morning for the 520 mile trip to Red Lake.
After a long road trip and an afternoon rest, Head Coach Doug Lein prepped the Lumberjacks for the task at hand. With the Miner’s home rink considerably smaller than the Lumberjack ice, accurate passing, aggressive speed and intentional system play were on the agenda for tonight’s game.
Wednesday, February 11: Old habits die hard – or so the saying goes. In the early season, the Lumberjacks were often guilty of an early game icing call resulting in a defensive zone face off. On a few of those occasions, the opponent took full advantage of the call and scored a quick first period goal. The Miners took note of that habit and played it to a tee, scoring an opening goal at the 43 second mark of the first period. The goal came after a Lumberjack icing call in the first minute. Once again, the Jacks found themselves down early, 0-1. The next 18 minutes were filled with penalty time but no scoring. As time in the period wound down and with less than one minute left on the clock, the potent Ironwood power play hit pay dirt. Owen Debrody scored his sixth goal of the year by slapping a loose rebound into the Miner’s net. Captain Will Porter and Andrew Brubakken assisted on the Lumberjack goal. The period, which saw 28 minutes in penalties, ended in a 1-1 tie.
The first intermission discussion focused on discipline. Coach Lein emphasized the need for smart, penalty free intensity. Drawing from the power play momentum, the Jacks entered the second period with hopes of a sharpened focus. In the first two minutes, the Miners poked at a lazy rebound in front of Lumberjacks net minder Gavin Covrig sneaking the puck across the goal line to retake a one goal lead. The Jacks were down 1-2 with 38 minutes remaining in the game. The Jacks refocused their efforts and over the next 12 minutes, were able to slowly gain momentum and push play to the Miner’s end of the rink. Even with 18 second period shots on goal, the Lumberjacks failed to score. The last 10 seconds of period number two were more than eventful. With nine seconds remaining, the Miners scored, taking a two-goal lead. With two seconds remaining, the Miners were assessed a five-minute major penalty for head contact, a game misconduct penalty, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The Jacks were penalized for roughing after the whistle. The second period ended with the Jacks down 1-3.
With the Lumberjacks holding a 32-23 lead in shots on goal, Coach Lein emphasized the need to continue with pressure. The defensive zone needed to tighten the string a bit, but the with the power play back on the ice to start the third period, Coach stressed the game was still within reach. With their leading scorer in the locker room from a late second period incident, Coach Lein was forced to juggle his forward lines to regenerate some offensive momentum. With players from both teams in the penalty box and the teams playing four on four, Christian Storey took a clean pass from Felix St-Onge and Bendan Klotz and shot it past the Miners goalie to close the score to 2-3. Unable to hold the momentum, the Jacks appeared to give up a fourth goal to the Miners only 40 seconds later allowing the lead to stretch back 2-4. After a bench challenge by the Lumberjacks, the Miner goal was called off and the score returned to 2-3. With 10 minutes left in the game, the Lumberjacks were within one. As the scoreboard showed three minutes left, it appeared that Felix St-Onge scored the tying goal but it was waived off by the officials. Another bench challenge from the Lumberjacks sent the call to review. After a brief delay, the officials stood their ground and confirmed no goal. Following the decision and with three minutes left in the game, the Ironwood bench took a penalty putting the Miners on the power play. With 45 seconds remaining, the Miners scored an insurance goal. As the horn sounded, the scoreboard read 2-4 in favor of the Miners.
Thursday, February 12:
With the Lumberjack’s leading scorer suffering ongoing complications from last night’s head contact and not available to play, Coach Lein was tasked with significant juggling of the offensive lines. Knowing last night’s effort was subpar, coach demanded the pre-game locker room be focused and ready to step out on the ice for a full 60 minutes.
The first period opened with a new line combination as Tyki Babcock shifted from his normal defensive position to a starting line wing. Connor Doyle took the net for the Jacks as the puck dropped on night two. Barely four minutes into the opening period, a scramble in front of the Lumberjack net left a Red Lake Miner skater staring at an open net. A quick shot put the Miners up early on the Lumberjacks 0-1. Five minutes later, a defensive zone face off cost the Lumberjacks another goal when an errant Miners shot deflected off the skate of a Lumberjack defenseman and past Doyle. The Jacks were quickly down 0-2. Late in the first, a defensive breakdown allowed the Miners to enter the Jacks zone with a two on one advantage. The Miners found the back of the net. The opening period ended with the Lumberjacks down 0-3 while out shooting the home team 15-14.
Hoping to spark the Lumberjacks, Coach Lein brought Gavin Covrig to guard the Lumberjack net at the start of the period. The second session started with an early Miner penalty putting the stout Lumberjack power play on the ice. The power play, even without Carruthers available, moved the puck well. At the 2:38 mark, Jack Hanna found Will Porter in the slot and Porter buried the puck to bring the Jacks within two. Six minutes later, an intense forecheck caused a turnover in the Miner end. Ryland Elsenpeter buried a quick shot in the Miner net for his fourth goal of the year. Assists on the Elsenpeter goal were credited to Colin Dorsey-Burdick and Christian Storey. The deficit was suddenly down to one goal. Keeping the forechecking pressure up, just three minutes later Dorsey-Burdick tallied his fifth goal of the season with a beautiful short side rising shot. The tally knotted the game at three and the Lumberjacks had new life. The second period, decidedly in favor of the Lumberjacks, ended all tied at three. The Lumberjacks led the shots on goal, 29-24, after two periods.
Hoping to sustain the pressure but knowing the Miners were unhappy with their performance, the Lumberjacks appeared poised for a strong third period. An early defensive stutter allowed another odd man rush into the Jacks zone. A well-placed shot allowed the Miners to resume the lead and the Jacks were once again tasked with coming from behind. But the Lumberjacks did not fold. Continuing to pressure the Miner defense, Andrew Brubakken picked up a loose puck and fired it past the Red Lake netminder to tie the game at four. Brubakken’s goal was unassisted. There were nine minutes left in regulation at the time of the goal. Regulation ended in a 4-4 tie and the Lumberjacks entered the familiar ground of overtime.
Overtime consists of a five-minute sudden death session of three-on-three hockey. Teams are given a three-minute rest period after the third period before the overtime session. If the teams are still tied at the end of regulation, a shootout will determine the winner. After five minutes, the score remained tied. Shots on goal ended with an advantage to the Lumberjacks 47-32. In the shootout, the Lumberjacks shot first. Tim Hanulik’s attempt was stopped by the Miner net minder. Covrig stopped the Miner’s attempt. Felix St-Onge took the second Lumberjack attempt but was unsuccessful. Covrig saved the second Miner attempt. Andrew Brubakken, taking the third Lumberjack shot was also not successful. The third Miner attempt slipped past Covrig giving the Miners the extra point from the shoot out victory.
The Lumberjacks are back on the road February 20 and 21 with two games against the Kam River Walleye. Following that series, the Jacks finally return home for a weekend tilt with the Sioux Lookout Bombers on February 27 and 28 at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center. Puck drop is 7 pm each night.