SPOONER, Wis. – Making the most of their opportunities, the Red Lake Miners got goals from five different skaters to propel them to a 5-2 decision over the Wisconsin Lumberjacks Tuesday evening to wrap-up Day 1 of the Superior International Junior Hockey League Showcase at the Spooner Civic Center.
A fast-paced first frame, featuring the two hottest clubs in the SIJHL, was scoreless in a session that saw Wisconsin hold a 12-11 edge in shots on goal.
The Lumberjacks did open the scoring three minutes into the middle session as Ryley Cardinal sent his twin brother Austin in on a partial break, where he was initially stopped, but knocked in the rebound out of mid-air, on the follow through, to put the home side on the board.
Red Lake came back with the equalizer at 8:05 as Morgan Venne picked off a clearing attempt then made a couple of quick moves towards the net before snapping in the tying tally past Wisconsin starter Hunter Adams.
The Miners then took the lead before the second stanza came to a close as Tucker Evans banked the puck off the boards while deep in Lumberjacks territory back to Carson Lux at the point who cut to the middle and snapped the go-ahead marker through a screen in front at 11:17.
Making some quick work on a power play chance in the third, Red Lake added to their edge as a couple of crisp passes by Lux and Shaye Sommerfeld fed Jordan Baranesky parked in front, who promptly buried a one-timer at 7:04 for his 22nd tally of the year.
Coming off a four-goal performance in the Miners’ last contest, Spencer Milne was sent in alone on a breakaway midway through frame and made no mistake, snapping a shot through Adams.
They then capped off the victory at 14:44 with Evans forcing a turnover that allowed Bryce Krauter to come in on the right wing and wire one into the top left hand corner.
Wisconsin did get one back late as Lukas Lundgren blocked a shot while shorthanded and skated in alone on Red Lake starter Samuel Gendron and went top shelf to round out the night’s scoring.
Shots on net saw the Lumberjacks hold a 41-33 edge with Gendron getting the win while Adams suffered the loss.
The SIJHL Showcase continues Wednesday with three more games on the docket, beginning with the Thunder Bay North Stars taking on the Thief River Falls Norskies at 1 p.m. CT back at the Civic Center.
Photo credit: Karina Schafer