Fighting Walleye a win away from moving on

IRONWOOD, Mich. – The Kam River Fighting Walleye are on the verge of a semifinal berth in the Superior International Junior Hockey League playoffs.

Ashton Sadauskas made 16 saves to earn the shutout and Kaden Goodwin scored a natural hat trick on Tuesday night to lead the second-seeded Fighting Walleye to a 6-0 win over the seventh-seeded Ironwood Lumberjacks.

Nickolas Fagnilli, Amar Powar and Jett Mintenko scored first-period goals for Kam River, who took a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series in front of 235 fans at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center.

Goodwin, who added an assist, scored twice in the second and completed the hat trick midway through the third.

Mintenko finished with a goal and two helpers.

Trent Boryszcuk allowed six goals on 32 shots in net for the Lumberjacks.

Kam River has outscored the Lumberjacks 17-3 in the series.
The Fighting Walleye can clinch the series on Wednesday night in Ironwood.

Thunder Bay 5, Fort Frances 4 (OT): Maxwell Buffone was the overtime hero for Thunder Bay, potting the winner at 11:54 of the first extra frame to give the North Stars a 2-1 series lead.

The Stars had to score twice in the final 2:21 seconds to force overtime.

Tyler Jordan netted his third of the postseason at the 17:39 mark of the third and Alex Remenda tied things up with 69 seconds to go in regulation.

Fort Frances led on three separate occasions in the contest.

Tie Schumacher opened the scoring at 8:01 of the first against Thunder Bay goaltender Keenan Marks, who faced 40 shots on the night.

Ian Ness gave the Lakers a 2-1 lead at 10:21 of the first, and after Marcellus Francis tied it up less than three minutes later, Carter Deschamps scored his first of the playoffs at 14:15. Brady Krentz doubled the Lakers lead 12:47 into the third.

Gunner Paradis made 29 saves in goal for the Lakers, who will look to even the series at home on Wednesday night.

Red Lake 3, Sioux Lookout 2: Nathan Dann scored what proved to be the game-winner at 17:36 of the second, giving the Miners a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven opening-round series. Ryan Heuser and Noah Tenney also scored for Red Lake, the goals coming 1:08 apart in the first.

Dylan Orr and Michael Casey, who scored with nine seconds to go in regulation, had the Bombers goals. Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Red Lake.