By Brett Richter
After an early morning 30-minute skate on their home ice, the Ironwood Lumberjacks hopped on board for the 6-hour road trip to Thunder Bay Ontario. Tonight’s SIJHL tilt found the 6th place Lumberjacks facing the 5th place North Stars. Showing improvement over the past four games, the Lumberjacks were hoping to continue the improvement by taking two points from the Stars during the Tuesday evening game.
The first half of the period was well played on both sides of the puck. The teams demonstrated good flow, strong defense and scoring opportunities. With roughly nine minutes left in the first, the Lumberjacks found themselves shorthanded. The hometown North Stars found the back of the net to take an early 1-0 lead. The next seven minutes were played evenly until a turnover in the Ironwood zone allowed the North Stars to take a 2-0 lead with two minutes remaining in period one.
The second 20-minute period of the contest was rarely played five on five. The period started with a North Star power play and the teams traded penalties for most of the period. Two minutes into the second period, #7 Will Porter scored his third goal of the season on a Lumberjack power play. Porter was assisted by #9 Chase Krtanjek closing the game to a 2-1 North Star lead. With seven minutes gone and the Lumberjacks shorthanded, the Stars put one more puck behind Lumberjack goalkeeper, Gavin Covrig, retaking a two-goal lead. The second period ended 3-1 in favor of the North Stars.
With less than three minutes gone in the third, the Lumberjacks got caught in a slow line change allowing the North Stars easy access to the zone. A quick, well-placed shot on goal increased Thunder Bay’s lead, making the game 4-1. The goal seemed to deflate the Lumberjack bench. With the Stars up 5-1, #13 Jack Hanna dug deep, working hard to bury a nice shot deep in the North Star net closing the gap to 5-2. #22 Ryland Elsenpeter assisted on the Hanna goal. And then it was all Thunder Bay offense. At the final buzzer, the score was 9-2 in favor of Thunder Bay.
The Lumberjacks return home this coming weekend with a two-game series against the league leading Dryden Ice Dogs. Both Friday and Saturday night’s games will see a 7 pm puck drop at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center in Ironwood. The games will also be available on SIJHL.TV.