The stellar goaltending of Regina netminder Brant Hilton led his Cougars past the host Lakehead Thunderwolves 4-1 Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The loss puts Lakeheads overall record at 3-3 while the Cougars go to 2-5-0-1 overall.
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Cody Thoring paced the Cougars with a pair of goals while singles came from Jeff Preston and Ryan Cruse. Lakeheads tally was notched by Andy Zulyniak. Shots on goal in the game were 31-25 Lakehead. Hilton was the story of the game; making about a dozen goal saving stops in the first half of the game. Then Regina, sparked by their first goal, picked up play and worked hard to get the win.
Hilton was the big story in the first period; making a number of spectacular saves to keep the Wolves at bay. The period featured big hits by Lakeheads Jordan C. Smith and Shandor Alphonso and Reginas Blair Stengler. Zulyniak put the Wolves up 1-0 at 18:23 on the powerplay; when he scored a spectacular backhanded goal while flying through the air after being tripped with his back to goaltender Hilton. Shots on goal were 14-9 Lakehead in the first.
The Wolves kept up the pressure in the early going of the second and Hilton again made some good stops; including a great save off a point blast by Lakeheads Jordan C. Smith. Regina got on the board at 8:03 when Cruse beat Lakeheads Kyle Moir; knocking in a rebound. The assist went to Clay Thoring. This goal seemed to ignite the Cougars and they made it 2-1 on the powerplay at 12:28 when Cody Thoring blasted a shot over Moirs shoulder. Assists went to Dillon Johnstone and Neil Kodman. Shots in the second were 8-7 Regina.
Regina came out strong in the third; controlling play for the first seven minutes and were rewarded at that point by a goal from Jeff Preston, assisted by Johnstone and Kodman again. The Cougars then began to play a defensive trap and were content to dump the puck for much of the rest of the period. This strategy was effective until about the last six minutes when the Wolves picked up the tempo trying to get back into the game. They put some good shots on Hilton but were again denied by the Regina keeper. Lakehead put on some furious pressure in the last two minutes and then pulled netminder Moir with over a minute left. However, Reginas Cody Thoring backhanded a high lobber from inside his blue line that found its way inside the empty Lakehead goal to seal the victory. Shots in the third were 10-8 Lakehead.
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by Reuben Villagracia of the Chronicle Journal, were:
1)Brant Hilton: Regina
2)Dillon Johnstone: Regina
3)Mark Soares: Lakehead
Lakehead hosts the Waterloo Warriors next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm EST in OUA Conference action and the games will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at the Lakehead website at www.thunderwolveshockey.com by clicking on the Broadcast section on the main page.