Photos: Kerri-Ann Kanceruk
By Gary Moskalyk
Red Lake 5 @ Dryden 3, Fri Mar 10: Red Lake 1 @ Dryden 2, Sat Mar 11
Dryden outshot Red Lake 46-25 and had three powerplay goals, but Jack Osmond shunted aside 43 for his 16th win of the season as the Miners defeated the Ice Dogs 5-3 on Friday.
Gabe Tanton scored his 2nd of the season on a shorthanded Red Lake 2-on-1 at 14:36. Riley See doubled the lead with 1.3 ticks left in the period, beating Zac MacDonald with a powerplay wrister.
Dryden switched out MacDonald for Eric Clark to start the second.
Jacob Lamoureux scored his league-leading 35th at 11:10 of the second for a 3-0 Red Lake lead.
A total of five goals were scored in the third.
Bryce Benfield’s powerplay wrap around at 5:15 got Dryden on the board. Aiden Corbett put the Miners up 4-1. Jordan Pfoh’s powerplay marker pulled the Dogs to within two. Dayvan Bull’s shot from his own zone found an empty net for a 5-2 Miners’ lead.
Brady Frattinger struck on a Dryden powerplay with 42 seconds left to account for the final score.
Dryden was 3-5 on the powerplay. Red Lake was 1-4. A fine crowd of 465 attended.
Dryden picked up a 2-1 win on Saturday. Eric Clark stopped 36 shots and the Ice Dogs killed off 11 penalties.
Landen Stromme scored his 23rd unassisted at 10:52 of the second period after a scoreless first frame. Stromme stripped Red Lake of the puck in the Dryden zone, raced down left side and beat Jack Osmond.
Max Rath snuck in from his defence position and fired in his second of the year on a beautiful feed from Bryce Benfield for a 2-0 Dryden lead.
Luke Decorby scored Red Lake’s lone goal on a breakaway, going through Clark’s legs for his 12th.
Red Lake’s Ty Woodard took a five-minute spearing penalty midway through the second that ignited tensions.
Only three minors were called in the third, however.
Osmond made 38 stops in the Miners’ net as both goalies put on clinics.
Dryden was 0-3 in their three chances. The game attracted 262 patrons.
Fort Frances 3 @ Dryden 5, Wed Mar 8
Dryden overcame a 2-0 first period deficit to defeat Fort Frances 5-3 before 237 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Clark Scaddan and Ryker Watt scored 52 seconds apart early in the first for the 2-0 Lakers edge. Dryden would score the next five. Only one was scored in the second.
Brady Frattinger notched his 25th at 14:24 of the middle frame with help from Max Rath.
Bryce Benfield, Ben Hackl (unassisted and shorthanded), McLaren Paulsen on a Dryden powerplay and Frattinger again (his 26th) had the Dogs up 5-2 with 3:23 left.
Kevin Bond’s 16th for the Lakers at 17:13 finished off the scoring. The Lakers were able to ice an extra attacker in the final 55 seconds but to no avail.
The win leaves the Ice Dogs five points back of Kam River for first place with four games left. Kam River has six games left–two against Thunder Bay and the final two against Dryden with Red Lake and Fort Frances in the mix.
Frattinger now has 45 points. After starting the season with seven points in four games, he registered just seven in his next 18. He’s been hot ever since.
Zac MacDonald made 25 stops for his 14th win. Brenden Stroble shut out Dryden in the first period while facing 23 shots. The Ice Dogs peppered the Lakers with 36 more over the final two frames. Frattinger added an assist for a three-point evening and Paulsen also added an assist.
Fort took 32 of the 43 penalty minutes assessed by Jon Kocis and Whitney Van Horne.
