The Soo North Stars were thankful to escape Friday night's game in the 24th Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament with a win.
In an extremely chippy game, the North Stars were able to convert their chances and hold on for a 5-2 win over the Chicago Huskies in the Midget AAA Major division at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The win improves the club's record to 3-0 in the tournament but they will likely still need a win on Saturday in order to advance into Sunday's playoff round.
Saturday's game against the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins could be a showdown for top spot in the A division with the prize being a berth into the semi-finals. Game time is 4:30 p.m. at the Rhodes.
Pittsburgh enters Saturday's competition with a 2-0 record and will faceoff against the Ojibawa Eagles at 8:30 a.m. at the Rhodes.
"The way things are shaping up with Pittsburgh right now, it looks as though we are going to have to win on Saturday to get in," said North Stars head coach Mike Hall. "We've had to double shift guys three games in a row now and if there's one thing these kids have it's stamina."
On Friday, the short staffed North Stars received a boost as defenseman Matt Conway, who is suffering the effects of the flu, returned to the lineup but was used sparingly.
Derrek Coccimiglio remains sidelined with the flu while Jason Bird is out for the tournament after suffering a concussion during the holiday break.
Paul Dupont scored his first goal of the tournament 2:03 into the game to give the locals the early lead.
After Chicago's Scott Cortwright tied the game with a power play goal late in the period, Jake McClelland answered on the power play just 1:10 later to put the North Stars ahead for good.
Zac McNally increased the lead to 3-1 before another power play goal by the Huskies' Jordan Culter pulled his team back to within a goal.
After the second intermission flood, the North Stars sucked any hopes of a Chicago comeback away with a goal by Nick Minardi 31 seconds into the third period. McNally then scored his second of the game on the power play to cap the scoring.
McNally and Dupont added an assist each while Ryan Dube recorded the win in goal.
Despite facing each other for the first time, each team took an instant dislike for one another as the game was plagued with rough play, constant scrums after the whistle and verbal jousting.
As happy as the North Stars were with the win, they were extremely happy to leave the game without injuries or suspensions.
"We told our kids in the third period that if someone grabs a hold of you, you are going to have to be the strongest turtle going because we don't have the players," said Hall.
"I thought we did a real good job in the third period of keeping our discipline and skating away from it. In games like this, sometimes you have to eat a little of crap for the good of the team. It's hard when someone is hacking and slashing you and your coach is asking you to skate away."
Hall was also very impressed with the work of Trevor McNutt in the contest.
"His name doesn't appear of the score sheet for goals or anything but McNutt is playing very well. He only stands at about five-foot-six but he plays like he's six-foot-two. He never stops and he doesn't back down from anybody. He rolls off hits good and, knock on wood, has been able to stay healthy for us."