THUNDER BAY – A pair of Thunder Bay Kings clubs went a combined 3-0-1 over the weekend on the road.
Taking on the Sudbury Nickel Capitals in Wawa, the under-18 Kings played their opening games of the season and skated away with a 10-2 triumph in their opener Saturday night before skating away with a 5-3 win, Sunday.
As for Thunder Bay’s U-15 side, the defeated the Minnesota Voyageurs of the AAA High Performance Tier-1 League 7-5 in their opener, before playing to a 3-3 tie in match-ups held in Duluth, Minn.
In Wawa, Matthew Lysak led the Kings’ attack with four goals, including notching the game-winner.
Lucas Bertolin chipped in with a hat trick, while Mitch Vanderwey, Ben Exell, Eric Sheriff supplied singles.
Netminder Sam Keene made 18 stops to collect the season-opening win.
Finishing off the sweep, Lysak tallied twice more in the triumph, with teammates Exell, Bertolin and Vanderwey also finding the back of the net once more.
Travis Smith finished with 19 saves in his debut to register the victory.
The U-18 Kings are right back at it this weekend as they host the Shattuck-St. Mary’s Sabres Prep School squad in a two-game set at Fort William First Nation Arena.
They’ll play Saturday at 7 p.m., before wrapping things up Sunday at 9 a.m., over at FWFNA.
Meanwhile in Duluth, King’s forward Evan Simeoni opened the scoring with a shot from the slot, in Game 1 before Minnesota drew level after one period of play.
Landon Hanson put Thunder Bay back on top with a nifty move in tight only to see the Voyageurs answer again to level the proceedings entering the final frame.
There, Jeremy Hutchison put his side back in front, but saw their opponents counter twice to put them in front.
A frenzied finish saw Hutchison strike on the power play and Mitch Smith connect to put the Kings up 5-4 with two minutes remaining.
Not done there, Bruce Bouchard put one into an empty net to extend the cushion, prior to the Voyageurs answering once more.
However, Reggie Taylor secured the win for the Kings with a final marker into an empty net, in the waning moments, with Charlie Weiss picking up the decision in net.
In the finale, Landyn Pacquette’s man advantage effort put the Kings in front before Minnesota countered.
Second period play saw Layton Hanson and Nico Simeoni put the club up by a pair, however the Voyageurs struck twice late in the session to round out the scoring.
Brady Cates’ efforts between the pipes backstopped Thunder Bay to the draw.
