It was a solid effort, but the La Ronge Ice Wolves dropped a 5-4 decision on Friday at home versus the Humboldt Broncos.
“I thought our guys, all four lines tonight were rolling, contributing — creating some offence, scoring some goals,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Evan Vossen. “That’s kind of what we need from those guys, from everybody up front.”
The Broncos opened the scoring 1:54 into the game when former Ice Wolf Derek Patter wired a rocket upstairs past Jordan Frey from the right circle. La Ronge answered the call 3:46 into the first when Zach Bannister found Jordan Mish, who tapped home his 12th of the season past Rayce Ramsay. Humboldt took a 2-1 advantage 12:31 into the stanza when Cole Kirkup shovelled in a rebound past Frey.
The Ice Wolves tied the game at two 1:21 into the second on the power play when Jake Gudjonson beat Ramsay five-hole for his 18th of the campaign. La Ronge took its first lead of the game 11:09 into the period when Antonio Di Paolo streaked down the left side and spotted Samson Mouland, who directed the puck home, which made it a 3-2 game. The Broncos would tie things up at three 16:52 into the frame when Brayden Camrud sent a rocket past Frey for his 26th of the campaign.
La Ronge took a 4-3 lead 8:36 into the third when Zach Bannister fed Samson Mouland, who tallied his second of the evening on the man advantage. The Broncos fought back and tied things at four 10:15 into the period when Mark Edmands sent a seeing-eye wrister past Frey on the power play. Brayden Camrud would score the eventual game-winner 14:36 into the third, as the Broncos mounted the comeback and recorded their ninth straight win.
“Power play goal, we score one, they score one,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Evan Vossen. “Then, kind of a pinball shot that I think goes off a couple different sticks or legs and ends up behind Jordan (Frey), I don’t even think he saw it. Unfortunately, that’s the bounce that happened tonight and we couldn’t quite get one.”
Jordan Frey made 39 saves in the loss, while Rayce Ramsay stopped 36 shots for the win. Ice Wolves forward Zach Bannister now has 62 points on the season following a three-point evening.
With the loss, the Ice Wolves are now riding a 12-game losing streak and their record slipped to 10-40-1-1 on the season, which has them in last in the overall standings.
The Ice Wolves look to rebound on Saturday when they conclude their weekend at home versus the Humboldt Broncos. The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. from the Mel Hegland Uniplex.
(PHOTO: The Humboldt Broncos made their first trip to La Ronge Friday. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)