Fort Frances goalie Talor Joseph earned his ninth victory in as many starts for the Lakers, who helped secure their second-place, regular-season finish Wednesday night heading into the Superior International Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Lakers were in Cloquet to take on the SIJHL league-leading Minnesota Wilderness when Fort Frances won in a shootout, 4-3.
Colton Spicer, Jon Carlson and Falls High School graduate Jordan Christianson all scored in regulation for the Lakers. Carlson, Christianson, Spicer and Owen Stauber also picked up assists in the game.
Minnesota’s Jeremy Johnson, Nick McCormack and Dylan Haskins scored for the Wilderness to tie the game at 3-3 after 60 minutes.
After the scoreless overtime, the teams went to the shootout.
The first shooter for Fort Frances, Spicer, slipped the puck past Minnesota goalie Gordy Defiel to give the Lakers the victory. Christianson and Patrick Sofer were stopped in their shootout attempts.
Joseph faced 51 shots on goal, making 48 saves in three periods and overtime, and then stopped all three Wilderness shootout attempts to give the Lakers the win.
Fort Frances will be back in action tonight at 7:30 hosting the Dryden Ice Dogs at the Ice for Kids Arena. From Feb. 20-26, the two teams faced each other three times with the Lakers winning all three.
Fort Frances 4, Minnesota 3
Fort Frances 2 1 0 0 1 — 4
Minnesota 2 1 0 0 0 — 3
