BLAINE, Minn. – It took a shootout to decide it, but the Thunder Bay Bantam Kings prevailed 5-4 over Omaha AAA Sunday in semifinal action of the North American Hockey League Future Prospects Tournament in Blaine, Minn.
Thunder Bay will now take on the Valley Forge Minutemen in the championship game Monday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Sunday’s match-up vs. Omaha saw the Kings storm back from 3-0 deficit and pull out the come from behind victory.
After Omaha struck quickly in the opening frame to go up by three, Hunter Matyasovsky got one back for the Bantams before the first frame was complete.
Thunder Bay came back and tallied twice in the middle stanza to knot the affair with Jack Cook connecting on the power play while Alex Atwill scored at even strength.
Omaha went back in front with an early man-advantage marker in the third only to see Jack Michaelis force the shootout with five and a half minutes remaining.
In extra shots, that went four rounds, it was Nolan Desjardins who won it for the Kings to send them to the final.
Alex Pineau chipped in with two assists to aid in the Thunder Bay rally.
The Kings outshot Omaha 48-39 in the game with Brayden McKever picking up the victory, who also saved all four attempts he faced in the shootout.