Eric Covell had the deciding marker in the shootout while Chris Stokke turned in a 29-save performance, plus two more in extra attempts, as the Iron Range Ironheads edged the Dryden Ice Dogs 4-3 in Superior International Junior Hockey League play Thursday at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn.
Dryden jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one period of play on goals by Ryan Lobreau and Daniel Morin, which were sandwiched around a Christopher Andre effort midway through the session.
Iron Range answered back in the middle frame on tallies by Shamus O’Neill and Benjamin Brouillard to take the lead heading into the third period.
The Ice Dogs’ Lobreau notched his second of the evening early into the stanza setting the stage for extra time.
After the five-minute OT solved nothing, the shootout was required to determine a winner.
There Stokke stymied both Thomas Greene and Austin Lewis while Covell and Casey Skolnik beat Dryden netminder Kim Wildhaber to end it giving the Ironheads their initial victory of 2012 while snapping a nine-game winless drought and improving to 5-27-2 in their first season in the SIJHL.
Wildhaber faced 26 shots in a defeat where Dryden salvaged a single point allowing them to move into a third place tie in the league standings with the Thunder Bay North Stars.
Action resumes Saturday with the Ice Dogs hosting Sioux Lookout in a 7:30 p.m. start at the Dryden Memorial Arena.
