The Albert Lea Thunder was looking to put together a solid showing before the team begins a nine-day layoff for the holidays, the Thunder is still searching after a 4-2 loss to North Iowa Friday at the City Arena.

The result Friday was an improvement over Thursday’s 6-1 loss to Alexandria, but it was apparent that the Thunder still has plenty of growing left to do.

“They know it’s move to the next game whether you win or lose,” Albert Lea head coach Brad Zangs said. “They know this one got away again.”

The Thunder had nine power play opportunities Friday night and converted on two of them. It was the first game since Oct. 11 Albert Lea has scored two power play goals, but the effort wasn’t enough to knock off the Outlaws.

North Iowa remains a hot team, riding a hot goaltender. The Outlaws (16-10-2) have won seven of their past eight, which includes three wins against the Thunder.

Joe Harcharik scored the eventual game-winner on a power play goal at 5 minutes, 57 seconds in the third period. Travis Peckskamp added his second goal of the game at 12:27 to ice the game for North Iowa as it won its sixth-straight game.

The Outlaws pulled into second place in the Central Division with the win and trail Alexandria by two points for first place.

The defense for Albert Lea has been unstable with players moving in and out lately and the inexperience of the players Friday played a role in the loss.

“One of the defensemen we brought in let their forwards get in behind and bang away,” Zangs said. “Other than that we played very well. We had great chances.”

Nikita Feoktistov scored a power play goal at 6:03 in the second to tie the game at 1-1, but North Iowa came back to take the lead 2-1 when Alex Charette scored 1:41 later.

Albert Lea (2-24-3) drew the game to 3-2 when Anthony Brown scored his second goal in as many days on a power play.

The Outlaws responded almost immediately as Peckskamp scored nine seconds later.

Thomas Callaghan was tough between the pipes for North Iowa, making 28 saves on 30 shots.

“We were a little late getting to the net,” said Thunder forward Niko Kapetanovic. “We knew he threw out a lot of rebounds so we wanted to get pucks to the net.”

Getting to the net has been an area Albert Lea has needed improvement in this season. Zangs said it has gotten better, but needs to get better.

“You have to give their goaltender credit, he played great,” Zangs said. “We didn’t do a great job of protecting our goaltender. They had it in our zone a little longer than what I would expect.”

The Thunder had chances in the first period as the team outshot North Iowa 11-6 and hit a crossbar and a pipe.

Opponents have started to key in on Albert Lea’s leading scorers Danny Wood and Mitch Torrel and neither recorded a point Friday night. The Thunder will need to find others to rely on for scoring as the trend of shadowing Wood and Torrel continues.

Albert Lea played the Outlaws Saturday in Mason City.

North Iowa 1 1 2 — 4

Albert Lea 0 1 1 — 2

First period—1. North Iowa, Travis Peckskamp

(Alex Charette, Alex Carlson), 11:38 (pp.).

Second period—2. Albert Lea, Nikita Feoktistov (Josh Botimer, Tom Lescovich), 6:03 (pp.). 3. North Iowa, Alex Charette (Jack Paul, Joe Harren), 8:44.

Third period—4. North Iowa, Joe Harcharik (Ryan Pelotma, Joe Harren), 5:57 (pp.). 5. Albert Lea, Anthony Brown (Jimmie Perkins, Ian Braun), 12:18 (pp.). 6. North Iowa, Travis Peckskamp (unassisted), 12:27.

Shots on Goal—North Iowa 33, Albert Lea 30.

Power-play Opportunities – North Iowa 1 of 6, Albert Lea 2 of 9.

Goalies – North Iowa, Thomas Callaghan 12-6-2 (30-28), Tom Lescovich 2-13-2 (33-29)

A – 406. T – 2:15.