Fishermen lead Ice Dawgs in entertaining series

Make no mistake, hockey playoffs are an entirely different beast.

Despite Selkirk finishing a whopping 38 points ahead of Arborg during the regular season, the Ice Dawgs are giving the Fishermen everything that they can handle in their Capital Region Junior Hockey League semifinal series.

“They’re working really hard,” said Fishermen head coach Chris Poponick. “The additions they needed at the deadline after Christmas have really helped them and they have picked up all of those young kids from the Interlake Lightning. It’s been a heck of a series.”

Selkirk took a 3-1 series lead after nipping the Ice Dawgs 3-2 on Saturday evening in Arborg.

“It was a good game,” Poponick said. “They got into penalty trouble but we couldn’t capitalize on it. We were 1-for-11 on the power play and Tre Strachan, their goalie, played unbelievable. He’s been their best penalty killer, by far.”

Kalen Guimond gave the home side a 1-0 first-period lead with a power-play goal before Selkirk’s Travis Spratt replied with a goal while the Fishermen enjoyed the man advantage in the second.

Reece Tessier and Chad King gave Selkirk a 3-1 lead before Arborg’s Lyle Murdock closed out the game’s scoring with a goal with 3:48 remaining in the third.

Spratt and Ben Kelly each had two points in the game.

Riley Bannerman continues to play well, stopping 38 Arborg shots for the win.

Last Friday, the Fishermen edged the Ice Dawgs 3-2 as Selkirk forward Jordan Donald scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game winner late in the second period. 

Donald also tallied in the first period along with Spratt. King had two assists in the game.

Guimond led Arborg with a goal and an assist while Ice Dawgs’ captain Josh Roche also tallied.

Bannerman made 36 saves for the victory.

The Ice Dawgs had evened the series at a win apiece after a 3-2 victory in Arborg on March 3.

King put Selkirk up 1-0 eight minutes into the game but Arborg’s Preston Seymour answered just 36 seconds later.

Guimond then gave the Ice Dawgs a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded tally with 4:07 remaining in the opening period.

After a scoreless second period, Blaine Wishnowski gave Arborg a 3-1 lead at 6:09 of the third.

Selkirk’s Zack Parkinson then made it a one-goal game when he scored with 6:26 remaining in regulation time.

Selkirk outshot Arborg 50-32.

The Fishermen were 0-6 on the power play while the Ice Dawgs were blanked in three opportunities.

Game 5 of the series was played in Selkirk this past Tuesday but no score was available at press time. The Fishermen would love to close out the series in five games.

“As much as I love the town of Arborg, I don’t want to go back there this year,” Poponick said. “We would like to get it done on Tuesday if all possible. The quicker we can do this, there’s less chance of further injuries or further tiredness going into the next series if we’re lucky enough to get there. I’d like to finish it up on Tuesday at home. We’ve been playing very well at home and hopefully that will continue.”

The series between the two teams has been a very entertaining one.

“It’s been back and forth, lots of good scoring opportunities both ways, lots of big saves, and a lot of big checks,” Poponick noted. “It’s been a really entertaining series. No blowouts, it’s been back and forth hockey...and we’ve had to work hard to get the 3-1 (series) lead.”

If necessary, Game 6 will be played Saturday in Arborg and a series-deciding seventh game is set for Sunday in Selkirk. Start times for both games will be 7:30 p.m.