Held off the scoreboard for the first time in 10 games last Friday, Clydesdales leading scorer Hunter Scott was back with a bang Wednesday night in Sioux Lookout. Scott notched five goals on the night, including two shorthanded, to power Duluth to the 8-4 win and pull them within two points of the Flyers.

Duluth scored first in the game, with Jordan Fontaine taking a pass from Mark Williams and snekaing it past Jayme Brattengeier for the early lead. Scott got his first of the night next, taking a long pass on the penalty kill and streaking in for the score. The two squads then traded goals, with Jacob Nolan putting the Flyers on the board and then Scott with an even strength goal before Chris Hoffman scored a pair for Sioux Lookout to make it 3-3 into the first intermission.

Scott came out flying in the second, getting the lead back just :31 into the frame, then again at 7:27 for the two goal lead. Max Strasser would get a Flyers goal at 11:35, but it was all Clydes from there on out, with Cody Stettin's power play marker and Scott's second shorthanded extending the lead to 7-4 before the second was out.

The lone goal of the third was a pretty pickpocket and quick shot by Ryan Tront in front of the Flyers net, fooling relief Trevor Zangs for the 8-4 final. Jason Dzurik got the win for Duluth, stopping 30 of 34 while Brattengeier got the loss, surrendering six goals on 34 shots before being ejected for fighting. Zangs stopped 13 of the 15 he saw.

Both squads are back for a rematch tomorrow night, as Duluth(18-26-1) will have a chance to pull even with the Flyers (19-25-1) in the standings with another win.

 Fort Frances rode the 40-save performance of Tanner Hamilton to double up Duluth at Ice for Kids Arena. The lone goal of the first period came during a Lakers’ power play as Jordan Christianson fired his 12th goal of the season past Clydesdales netminder Matt Arnold at 13:07.

After Blake Boaz made it 2-0 in the second session, Ryan Tront would trim the deficit midway through the stanza. Henry Gutierrez made it 3-1 Fort Frances after 40 minutes with his 11th of the campaign.

Reed Armstrong pulled the visitors close with an early effort in the third, but Gutierrez scored again at 15:07 to round out the scoring. Duluth outshot the Lakers 42-28 on the night with Hamilton securing the victory while Arnold suffered the loss.

The visiting Clydesdales built up a 5-2 lead and then withstood a late Ice Dogs rally to pull out the road triumph. Each side would find the back of the net twice in the initial stanza with Hunter Scott and Cody Stettin doing the damage for Duluth while Daniel Morin had a pair of man advantage markers for the Dogs.

The only two goals in the second session came off the stick of Duluth’s Kevin Phillips and Stettin. Scott extended the Clydesdales’ cushion with an early power play effort in the third to take control. Dryden added late goals from Ian Schachte and Diego Breckenridge to pull within one, but that’s as close as they would get.

Dryden held the shots on goal margin 38-32 with Matt Arnold earning the W while Kim Wildhaber was handed the setback. The Clydes moved to 17-25-1 with the victory and the Ice Dogs slipped to 20-18-5.

In other action, the Wilderness got goals from five different scorers as they rolled to win number 20 in succession, taking down the Lakers in a neutral site game played in Virginia, MN. SIJHL action resumes on three fronts Friday. Thunder Bay hosts Iron Range, Duluth visits Fort Frances and Sioux Lookout welcomes Wisconsin. All three match-ups get underway at 7:30 p.m.

Courtesy Dave Harwig, viewthroughmylens.net

THUNDER BAY 2, IRON RANGE 3
In the first matchup, Iron Range stunned the Thunder Bay North Stars on the strength of three special teams goal in the first period. Casey Skolnik started it out by punching home a power play goal just 1:50 into the contest. It was Benjamin Brouillard less than a minute later, this time shorthanded to put the Ironheads up by two, and Spencer Peratalo got a power play tally of his own at 12:15 to give them the three goal cushion. The North Stars would attempt a comback, but could only muster a pair of third period goals from Sam Dubinsky and Brennen Dubchak. Colton Ishmael was stellar in the Iron Range net as they completed the cycle by beating the North Stars; they now total six win with one against each team in the league. Marc Nother took the loss for Thunder Bay after coming in to the game in relief just 2:43 in; starter Carter McEachern was pulled after giving up goals on the only two shots he faced.

WISCONSIN 5, SIOUX LOOKOUT 2
In the second contest, the Wilderness proved again they are a squad the finishes well. Battling with the Flyers to a 1-1 tie through two frames, the league leaders poured it on in the third scoring four goals to Sioux Lookout's one, including a Jordan Shockley hat trick capped off by an empty netter with :13 to go. Zach Blaisdell and Wilson Housley notched the other goals for Wisconsin, while Jacob Nolan and Max Strasser got on the board for the Flyers. Jayme Brattengeier stood on his head in a losing effort, making several key saves on the 40 shots he saw, including an impressive 5-3 penalty kill to keep the Flyers in the game until Shockley's heroics. Gordy Defiel moved to 7-0 for the Wilderness, stopping 28 of 30.

DULUTH 7, FORT FRANCES 4
In the nightcap, Duluth had a special teams explosion of their own to take down the Lakers 7-4. Jordan Larson opened the scoring on the game, putting a rebound past Duluth's Jason Dzurik at 6:16 of the first. Duluth answered back thanks to an unassisted effort from Cody Stettin at 15:42. It was Stettin again in the second, this time on the power play less than a minute into the second to give the Clydesdales the lead. :39 later Bryce Gustafson pushed it to 3-1, and by the 14:32 mark Duluth had extended the lead to four thanks to shorthanded goals by Troy Olson and Dillon Mershon. Fort Frances stormed back in the final five minutes of the second, with a pair of Byron Katapaytuk goals bookending a Colton Spicer marker to close the gap to 5-4 by the second intermission. But it was all Duluth in the third, as Olson got his second shorthanded of the night and Chris Palm added some insurance to make it the 7-4 final. Dzurik stopped 28 of 32 in the win, which moved the Clydesdales into a tie for fifth with Sioux Lookout. Tyler Ampe took the loss, letting in 7 of 29.