DRYDEN — Nikolas Campbell is a man on a mission.
A night after scoring a natural hat trick to help save the Thunder Bay North Stars season in Game 6 of their Superior International Junior Hockey League semifinal against the second-seeded Dryden Ice Dogs, he did it again on Thursday night.
Campbell scored the double overtime, Game 7 winner to send the fourth-seeded North Stars into the Bill Salonen Cup final against the Kam River Fighting Walleye, delivering a three-goal win that capped an improbable comeback in the series that saw them trail 3-1 after four games.
Campbell's goal came at 14:31 of the second extra frame, earning Thunder Bay a shot at its seventh SIJHL championship in their 10 final appearances.
Max Rath opened the scoring for Dryden at 4:08 of the first, but just over four minutes later Jamie Fuchs beat Eric Clark and the two teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Edison Weeks gave the Stars a 2-1 lead at 8:53 of third, but Max Roby, with his third goal in two nights, beat Keenan Marks at 11:35 to ultimately send the game to overtime.
Marks, who has filled in admirably for Connor Lemieux, and appears to have taken over the No. 1 job in net, stopped not one, but two penalty shots in the contest, including a nail-biter in double overtime on Roby.
Ryland Maier also came up short in the first.
Marks made a remarkable 56 saves on the night, three more than his Ice Dogs counterpart.
The league has yet to announce the schedule for the SIJHL final, but it’s expected at least two days of rest will be required before the championship round will begin. Weather could also play a factor.
The Fighting Walleye advanced to the final by beating Wisconsin in five games. They will host the first two games of the cross-town series, the first championship meeting between the two teams. The Fighting Walleye advanced to last year’s final, but fell to Red Lake.
The winner of the Bill Salonen Cup will advance to next month’s Centennial Cup in Portage, Man.
