FORT FRANCES – The Thunder Bay Sportop minor midget Kings have returned home from a three-game series vs. the Fort Frances Muskies high school program with a pair of victories to their credit.
Game 1 of the weekend match-up went Saturday afternoon in the Fort and saw Thunder Bay skate to a 6-1 win.
Keegan Jones paced the Kings attack with a pair of tallies while Nolan Height and affiliate Ian Zechner both supplied one goal and helped set-up another.
You also had Jack Pineau dish out a pair of assists while goaltender Keenan Marks recorded the win in a contest that saw Thunder Bay out shoot the Muskies 30-20.
Saturday evening saw the Muskies counter with a 4-3 triumph as they rallied with a pair of third period goals to pull out the win.
Scoring for the Kings in the setback were Kai Vanska, Josh Lehto and Jett Mintenko.
Fort Frances held the edge in shots in that one by a 31-18 count with Gunner Paradis suffering the defeat in net.
Wrapping things up Sunday, Thunder Bay collected a trio of unanswered goals to pull out a 4-2 decision over the Muskies.
After Vanska scored for the Kings in the first frame, Pineau, Lehto and Alex Remenda connected in the third to give the club the road decision.
Marks finished with 20 saves in net to earn the victory between the pipes.
Meanwhile, the Happy Time Tours major midget side posted a 2-2 record at the North Dakota Showcase in Grand Forks in four closely-contested match-ups.
Taking on the unbeaten Winnipeg Wild, the Kings fell twice by scores of 3-1 and 3-0.
Winnipeg currently sits in first place in the Manitoba Midget Hockey League with a 12-0-0 record and are now 14-0-0 overall on their season.
Thunder Bay did top Team North Dakota in both of their meetings, winning 4-3 in overtime and 3-2 in a shootout.
As for the Maritime Petroleum Advisory Services bantam Kings, they won two of three vs. the RINK Academy Nationals prep school in a series played in Winnipeg.
Thunder Bay took the opener 4-3 Friday, but were bounced 7-2 Saturday before rebounding with a 3-1 decision Sunday.
Up next for both midget sides will be North American Prospects Hockey League play Nov. 16-18 in suburban Dallas, Texas.
The bantams have a four-game set in Mississauga in mid-November before joining the peewee Kings at the annual Spirit of Duluth Tournament Dec. 6-8.
