Kings go 1-1-1 Friday in Blaine

HUNDER BAY, Ont. – It was a 1-1-1 day for the Thunder Bay Kings Friday in game action in Blaine, Minn.

The Sportop minor midget Kings defeated the Minneapolis Lakers 2-1 in overtime in North American Prospects Hockey League play while earlier in the day they skated to a 5-5 draw with the Tri-State Spartans from Connecticut in an exhibition contest.

Meanwhile, the Thunder Bay Happy Time Tours Kings fell 3-1 in their NAPHL outing to the Illinois U-18 High School Showcase squad.

In the triumph over the Lakers, it was scoreless into the second stanza where the Lakers got on the board with a shorthanded marker.

Going to the power play in the third, Jouni Kemppainen finished off a Josh Lehto feed at 6:57 to knot the affair at 1-1.

Heading to OT, Lehto buried the game-winner a minute and a half in to give his side the win.

Keenan Marks made 19 saves to record the victory of the Kings.

In the friendly with Tri-State, Nolan Height paced the offensive attack with a pair of tallies and an assist while Jett Mintenko, Kai Vanska, and Zach Biniaris supplied single markers.

Gunner Paradis faced 27 shots in goal for the Kings.

The defending NAPHL Dixon Cup title-holding major midget Kings fell to 0-2 early on with Mason Bazaluk collecting the lone Thunder Bay tally 4:45 into the third period in U-18 play.

Illinois also held the edge in shots on goal by a 32-18 count with Connor Lemieux suffering the setback between the pipes.

Saturday’s NAPHL slate has the minor midgets taking on the Indy Fuel at 8:30 a.m. while the majors meet the Minnesota Muskies at 4 p.m.

All NAPHL games are streamed online at HockeyTV.com.