DRYDEN, Ont. – The Dryden GM Ice Dogs picked up a goal and two assists from Eric Stout to help them defeat the Minnesota Iron Rangers 5-2 in a Superior International Junior Hockey League match-up Wednesday at Memorial Arena.
The result means Dryden moves back into a first-place tie in the SIJHL standings with the Thief River Falls Norskies, with both clubs having five games remaining in the regular season.
Wednesday’s match-up saw the GM Ice Dogs storm out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Woody Galbraith, Cory Dennis and Stout.
Joel Nagy got one back for Minnesota at 16:49 but Jacen Bracko notched his league-leading 41st tally of the campaign with just three seconds left in the first period to put the home side up 4-1 after one.
Along with an earlier assist, Bracko extended a consecutive game point streak to 10 in the process.
Mihali See picked up the lone marker of the middle session as the Iron Rangers’ forward picked up his 11th of the year at 4:14.
Dryden added some insurance in the final frame thanks to Kris Hamlin’s fifth at 9:08 to round out the night’s scoring.
Stout also chipped in with two assists for a three-point night.
The GM Ice Dogs outshot Minnesota 47-23 in the contest with Jacob Gnidziejko picking up the win while Tyler Thompson suffered the loss.
The same two teams meet again Thursday back at Memorial Arena in another 7:30 p.m. start.
Photo credit: Darby Hatfield