The Michigan Tech Huskies made it a sweep over the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves with a 5-1 win before 2698 fans at the Fort William Gardens on an Arctic Saturday night in Thunder Bay. Lakehead's lone goal came from Austin Wycisk. The Huskies got two goals from Colin Murphy and singles from Brandon Schwartz, Malcolm Gwilliam, and Jake Wilkens. The loss puts Lakehead's overall mark at 16-6-1-1 while Michigan Tech's overall record goes to 4-14-1.
Lakehead had some early chances during a powerplay but Tech netminder Cam Ellsworth came up big. Tech star Chris Conner broke in on a breakaway but Lakehead's Chris Whitley deflected it wide. Action was wide open for a long stretch with both teams getting some good looks but both netminders were steady. The
Wolves' Dene Poulin delivered a fierce open ice hit at the Lakehead blue line on Tech's B.J. Radovich at the 7:00 mark. Tech Captain Colin Murphy put the Huskies on the board at 8:08; firing a hard low shot that beat Whitley stick side. Whitley made a great stabbing toe save off a hard shot by Tyler Skworchinski at 10:38, but Lakehead was called for a minor. The Huskies made no mistake as Brandon Schwartz converted a lovely cross-ice pass and one timed it in at 11:51, assisted by Nick Anderson. The Thunderwolves then had two good chances of their own but Ellsworth again stood tall. Lakehead had some good pressure during a late powerplay but couldn't hit the net. Tech's Conner broke in alone on and tried a deke on Whitley but the Wolves' goalie made a great save to end the period. Michigan Tech outshot Lakehead 10-9 in the first.
Action was again very fast at the start of the second and Chris Whitley had to make four good saves early; including deflecting a shot by Tech's Malcolm Gwilliam that fluttered over the top of the Wolves' net. Tech went on the powerplay at 7:00 but Lakehead killed it off nicely. Whitley made an incredible reflex glove save of Conner at 9:26; followed by a series of more good stops. Lakehead took a series of minors that kept them on the defensive and the Huskies in control of the play. The Huskies finally broke through Whitley's wall at 18:02, when Jake Wilkens knocked in his own rebound. The assist went to Clay Wilson. The Huskies outshot the tiring Wolves 20-5 in the second.
Michigan Tech got a strange goal as a shot by Colin Murphy at 2:57, assisted by Conner and Desmet. However, he wasn't credited with the goal until the 4:00 mark as the puck apparently went through the mesh at the top of the Lakehead net and it took a minute or so for the goal judge to get the referee's attention to notify him of the goal. Play continued with Lakehead looking tired as the lack of a bench took its toll. The Huskies made it 5-0 on a pretty goal at 12:46 as Taggart Desmet set up Malcolm Gwilliam who snapped it in from in front of the Lakehead goal. Lakehead restored a little pride at 18:27 when Austin Wycisk fired it in; assisted by Brad Priestlay. Tech outshot Lakehead 16-9 in the third and 46-23 overall.
The Molson Three Stars, as chosen by Dave Trifunov of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, were:
1)Michigan Tech: Colin Murphy
2)Michigan Tech: Chris Conner
3)Lakehead: Mike Wehrstedt
Lakehead sees action next when it hosts the Bell Varsity Cup Tournament from Dec. 28-31; featuring Lakehead, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Ottawa.