Bombers Outlast Lakers to Win in the Shootout
By James Brohm
It was an exciting game with an exciting finish. Sioux Lookout put their near-perfect record on the line against a Fort Frances squad hungry for their first win of the season.
The Lakers came out hard against the home team. They controlled much of the play for the first half of the opening period. Unfortunately, a lack of discipline in the second half tipped the ice in favour of the Bombers. The Lakers were assessed for 6 infractions in less than five minutes. The Bombers finally converted on their third powerplay. Dayvan Bull, who has racked up eight helpers this season, got his first goal, beating Lakers’ goaltender Jack Orchard clean on the glove side. Despite the penalty troubles, the Lakers escaped the first period only down 1-0.
Both goaltenders made some highlight reel saves as the Lakers and Bombers traded chances throughout the second period. At 14:38, Sioux Lookout’s Connor Burke’s quick release shot found the back on the net, again on Orchard’s glove side. It was the second powereplay goal for the Bombers and was assisted by Nolan Palmer and Blake Burke. The Lakers’ hard work would pay off at 19:33 when Ryker Watt scored the first Lakers goal of the weekend assisted by Cobe Delaney and Jack Wood. Fort Frances was within one goal at the end of the period, with a score of 2-1 favouring Sioux Lookout.
Dale Horseman III restored the Bombers’ two-goal lead at 5:31. Beau Bannerman chipped the puck out of the defensive zone right onto the stick of Owen Cotter who fed Horseman a beautiful pass on the ensuing 2-on-1. Cobe Delaney brought the Lakers back within one goal with a tip past Bombers netminder Matthew Spencer-Dahl. He snuck in behind the defensive zone coverage and knifed an Evan Kabel feed into the back of the Bombers’ net at 8:57. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Brady Krentz tipped a Deagan Watson centering pass on net and the Lakers were able to force overtime and guarantee their first point of the season.
Overtime was fast and furious. Despited having plenty ice to work with 3 on 3, the Lakers and Bombers played all five minutes and settled nothing. Jack Orchard stopped 32 shots through 65 minutes and Matthew Spencer-Dahl stopped 28 in the same timeframe.
The game advanced to the shootout. First up was Connor Burke. He beat Orchard over the blocker. Jack Wood evened up the shootout tally, putting the puck under the glove of Spencer-Dahl and popped the waterbottle. Blake Burke missed the net on his backhand attempt but Ryker Watt couldn’t beat Spencer-Dahl either. To finish the opening rounds of the shootout, the Bombers sent out the man with the most goals on the season, Owen Riffel who snapped a shot top shelf over the glove of Orchard. With the game on the line, the Lakers looked to Clark Scaddan to stay alive. He almost had Matthew Spencer-Dahl beat with a fake but put the puck off the post and out. The Bombers held on for their seventh win of the season.
The three stars were given to Fort Frances’ Cobe Delaney (3rd), Bombers’ captain Nolan Palmer (2nd) and the Bomber’s goalie was the game’s first star after weathering a late push by the Lakers and securing the victory in the shootout.
The Bombers will play a home and home series against the Ice Dogs next weekend where they will have an opportunity to unseat the league leaders. The Lakers will head to Thunder Bay to face-off against the North Stars and continue to search for their first win of the season.