SPOONER, Wis. — The Thief River Falls Norskies picked up four assists from defenceman Connor Kalthoff, who helped lead his side to an eventual 7-4 triumph over the Dryden GM Ice Dogs Tuesday in Game 2 of the Superior International Junior Hockey League Showcase at the Spooner Civic Center.
Kalthoff began by setting up Mason McIntosh 4:13 into the contest to give the Norskies the lead.
Dryden came right back to knot the affair a minute and a half later as Josh Weber provided some nice stick work from in close before sliding in his 19th of the season.
The GM Ice Dogs then went in front during a four-on-three man advantage that resulted in Parker James whipping one from the point that made its way through a screen and in.
A nice rush finished off by Justin Schwartzmiller drew Thief River Falls level while teammate Tyler Kiley-Ram completed Kalthoff’s third assist of the period at 17:43 to make it a 3-2 game after one.
In the middle session, each side would tally once with the Norskies Zach Ross scoring from the slot while Dryden’s Jesse Mistelbacher stuffed one in from the top of the crease.
Third period play saw Nick Harder one-time a perfect pass from Kalthoff into the open side to give the Norskies a two-goal cushion.
Battling back, a quick transition by the GM Ice Dogs helped them rush in and saw Xavier Halterman fire home his 10th to get his club right back in it.
However, a lengthy cross-ice feed by Schwartzmiller set-up Harder to hammer in another one-timer at 11:49 to make it 6-4.
Ross then secured the win with a late empty netter to round out the scoring.
Caleb Sauer in the Thief River Falls net made 27 saves to record the victory while Dryden’s Jacob Anthony stopped 35 in defeat.
Photo credit: Karina Schafer