TORONTO – The Thunder Bay Kings are off to an 0-2 start at the OHL Cup minor midget tournament in Toronto after dropping their opening two contests Wednesday.
Thunder Bay was edged 3-2 in their opener against the Quinte Red Devils before going on to be overpowered by a strong Toronto Marlboros side, 6-0, in the nightcap of the day.
Against Quinte, the Kings fell behind 2-0 after one period of play, including a marker that inadvertently bounced off a defender and past starter Gage Stewart, who had no chance on the play.
In the second stanza, Thunder Bay got on the board, via the power play, midway through the session as a Jack Cook point shot appeared to be redirected by teammate Jeremy Dunmore parked in front of the Devils goal and in to get their side on the board.
However, the Red Devils collected the eventual game-winner during a two-man advantage at 10:48.
Up a skater in the third, the Kings pulled back to within one a couple of minutes into the period as Hunter Matyasovszky banged one in from close range.
Despite some chances to tie it, Quinte goaltender Alex Lucas made a number of quality stops to secure the victory.
Stewart too was solid in goal for Thunder Bay despite the defeat.
In the loss to the Marlboros, Toronto saw Marc Boudreau register a hat trick and add an assist while Wyatt Johnston scored once and doled out three helpers to lead them to the triumph.
Julien Lefebrve did his best to keep the Kings in it, but the Marlies onslaught proved to be too much as he saw five pucks get past him while Stewart gave up one in a mid-second period relief stint before Lefebvre returned to the Thunder Bay net in the third.
The club’s lone contest Thursday has them meeting the London Jr. Knights at 12:30 p.m. before they conclude round-robin play Friday vs. the Waterloo Wolves at 11:30 am.
