RED LAKE, Ont. – Jacob Lamoureux’s second goal of the night may have saved the Red Lake Miners season.
The 19-year-old Alberta native scored 2:45 into overtime on Monday night to secure a 5-4 win for the Miners in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Superior International Junior Hockey League quarterfinal series, which they now trail two games to one.
The goal helped erase the disappointment of allowing the visiting Thunder Bay North Stars to send the game to overtime on Sam Skillestad’s first of the playoffs, the goal coming with just 14 seconds left in regulation.
The two teams traded leads all night long.
Easton Glousher opened the scoring 2:42 into the contest to give Thunder Bay a 1-0 lead, but Matthew MacPherson needed just 62 seconds to bury the equalizer and the two teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Quntyn Sidaway, who has lit the lamp in all three games, bumped the Miners in front 46 seconds into the middle stanza, but Edison Weeks and Glousher scored three-and-a-half minutes apart to vault the North Stars back on top with a 3-2 advantage.
However, it was Red Lake who closed out the second on top. Lamoureux beat Conner Lemieux to even the score at 11:32 and Luke Decorby edged the Miners in front 4-3 with his first of the postseason at 16:55.
Lemieux, who spent nearly two minutes on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, stopped 33 of 38 shots, while Trent Boryszcuk, playing his first game of the series, made 43 saves to earn the win.
Game 4 goes Tuesday night at Cochenour Arena.
Dryden 6, Fort Frances 2: Brady Frattinger scored a hat trick and Landen Stromme picked up three assists as the Ice Dogs took a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Lakers. Ryker Watt had both goals for Fort Frances. Dryden can wrap up the series in Fort Frances on Tuesday night.
