THUNDER BAY – Welcome to Thunder Bay, Liam Letters.
The Rochester, N.Y. netminder, a trade-deadline acquisition earlier this week, arrived in the city on Friday night and less than 24 hours later, he was between the pipes, tending goal for the streaking Thunder Bay North Stars.
The visiting Fort Frances Lakers made him work for it, but Letters, who most recently played for the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, stopped 35 of the 37 shots fired his way on Saturday night to help lead the North Stars to a 5-2 triumph, their fifth straight Superior International Junior Hockey League win.
“They made me earn it, but that makes it better,” said Letters, the only pucks to beat him coming off the stick of Gavin Simon, who scored the game’s opening goal at 5:16 of the first and the game’s final goal, stuffing it home with 59 seconds to go in regulation.
In between the North Stars rattled off five straight tallies, including a pair by Marcellus Francis.
Thunder Bay coach Rob DeGagne said the goaltending performance was a great way for Letters to introduce himself to his teammates.
“Liam did a great job for us tonight,” DeGagne said. “He played really well for us tonight. He got here late last night and I asked him if he wanted to play and he was eager to go. So, I put him in there. It’s nice to have two pretty good goaltenders going into the playoff run.”
Simon’s first goal came on a delayed penalty, goaltender Nolan Koethler having raced to the bench for an extra attacker.
The lead, however, lasted just 71 seconds.
Peter Forester evened the score at 6:27 of the first and the two teams hit the break tied at a goal apiece.
Just over four minutes into the second, Kendrick Marshall picked up a loose puck out of the corner, spun and fired from a sharp angle, beating Keothler for the go-ahead goal. Matthew Lysak made it 3-1 a minute and 21 seconds later and Francis potted his first of two on the night, his 17th of the season, beating the Fort Frances goaltender on the short side. He added his second of the night just 38 seconds into the third, once again going to Koethler’s right side.
Francis, who has 34 points in 21 games with the North Stars, said they knew the Lakers weren’t going to go down easily, especially after losing Friday night’s series opener 7-1 at Fort William Gardens.
“We knew they were a strong team and they would come ready to play. We had to make sure we were ready to play as well. We just tried not to let up at any moment of the game, even though we might have at some points.”
The win was crucial.
Just six points separates first from fourth, where the North Stars (20-8-2) currently reside, but with two games in hand on second-place Kam River and third-place Sioux Lookout, with just two points separating the three clubs.
“Every win here is crucial. Every team is separated by a matter of points and every win is very important,” Francis said.
Thunder Bay will look to continue its momentum on Tuesday in Dryden, before returning to the Gardens next weekend when they welcome their cross-town rival Kam River Fighting Walleye to the 74-year-old rink they call home.
Star gazing: The North Stars will welcome Jarred Feist, brother of former Stars player Colby Feist, who they acquired from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Drumheller Dragons. He had five goals and 11 points in 24 games this season, which also included time with the Grande Prairie Storm.
Kam River 5, Red Lake 2: Jett Mintenko and Daxton Lang scored third period goals to break open a 3-2 contest, leading the Fighting Walleye to the win. Kai Hughes and Nathan Dann scored for the Miners.
Sioux Lookout 10, Kenora 1: Owen Cotter and Brodie Wood scored two goals each to lead the defending champion Bombers to a lopsided win. Ayden Belanger had the Islanders goal.
Dryden 7, Ironwood 2: Eli Antoine scored a hat trick and Rylan Oatman added a pair of goals to help the Ice Dogs maintain a four-point lead in the SIJHL standings, with a win on the road.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Fort Frances, Simon 3 (Gouin, Wood) 5:16.2. Thunder Bay, Forester 5 (Glousher) 6:27. Penalties: Anton TB (hooking) 15:03.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Thunder Bay, Marshall 5 (Lysak, Sheriff) 4:34. 4. Thunder Bay, Lysak 6 (Loke) 5:55. 5. Thunder Bay, Francis (Franz, Anton) 11:30. Penalties: None.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Lakehead, Francis 18 (Bryson) 0:38. 7. Fort Frances, Simon (unassisted) 19:01. Penalties: Simon FF (slashing), Gouin FF (roughing), Bryson TB (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:01.
GAME DATA – SOG – Fort Frances 12-12-13-37, Thunder Bay 12-12-10-34; Power plays (goals-chances) - Fort Frances (0-1), Thunder Bay (0-0); Goaltenders – Fort Frances: Nolan Koethler, Thunder Bay: Liam Letters; A: 379.
