The midget AA Thompson King Miners return home for their last game – or two – of the 2017-18 season trailing the Cross Lake Islanders two games to one in the best-of-five league finals.
The Islanders took the series lead with a 7-6 overtime victory in Cross Lake March 11, getting three goals from Christian Ross, two from Kadin Ross and one apiece from Braeden Monias and Julius Scribe to outdo the efforts of the King Miners, who got a pair of tallies from Ryan Monias and singles from Cody Hale, Matthew Lamontagne and Curtis Shymanski, competing with only 12 players on the roster. Isaak Weenusk made 21 saves in 74 minutes of play for Thompson, while Peter Ross made the same number for the Islanders.
The game was the third close match in a row of the series, which began March 9. The King Miners evened it at one game apiece with a 5-3 win March 10, getting three goals from Drayden Spence and two from Hale while Dallas Muskego, Christian Ross and Kadin Ross responded for Cross Lake. Weenusk made 34 saves to get the win in that contest, which saw Marcus Ross make 45 saves for the Islanders, who were outshot 50-37.
The series opened with a 5-4 Islanders victory, on the strength of two goals from Christian Ross and singles from Muskego, Kadin Ross and Scribe. Chase Gurniak and Ryan Monias each scored twice for Thompson, who were outshot 37-35 with Weenusk making 32 saves for Thompson and Marcus Ross 31 in net for the Islanders.
The series concludes in Thompson this weekend.
