The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team beat the Guelph Gryphons 4-3 in a shootout on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON in front of a crowd of 2,757.
The game started out with both teams feeling each other out and not taking many chances. Guelph got on the board first after an unfortunate giveaway by Lakehead defenseman Danick Malouin, who put the puck right on his own net. The rebound was scooped up by Gryphon forward Phillip Teri, who made no mistake putting Guelph in front 1-0 at 7:34 of the first period.
That goal sparked the Wolves as they began to pick up the physical play and create some chances. Lakeheads Mike Hammond tied things up at 9:33 of the first, finding the puck on his stick in front of the net. Hammond rifled it past Guelph goaltender Cody St. Jacques. Assists on the goal were credited to Ryan McDonald and Jadran Beljo. Both teams traded chances throughout the rest of the first period before Thunderwolves freshman defenseman Chris de la Lande scored his first goal in a Lakehead uniform to increase the Wolves lead to 2-1 at 18:00 of the first period. Assists were credited to Andrew Wilkins and Jake Carrick.
There was a much better flow to the game in the second period. At 3:32 of the second, freshman Mike Hammond scored his second goal of the game, and seventh of the season, to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead. Assists went to McDonald and Mike Quesnele.
Both teams traded some big hits in the second, and there was plenty of after the whistle rough stuff, including a concerted effort by the Gryphons team to get under the skin of OUA leading scorer Matt Caria. Caria was buzzing all over the ice in the second, setting up a couple of golden chances, and blasting a rocket one-timer off the post. Lakehead netminder Alex Dupuis made some huge saves to keep the Thunderwolves in front by two.
The third period started out with Lakehead controlling the majority of the play, but after Mike Hammond blocked a shot, the puck ended up on Guelph Captain Chris Belans stick. He made no mistake and pulled Guelph to within one at 2:17 of the period. Lakehead found itself in trouble after Jadran Beljo was given a five-minute major for swinging his stick at a Guelph player. Guelph forward and Thunder Bay native Justin Gvora tied things up for the Gryphons at 13:50 of the third.
Overtime solved nothing, and next was a very exciting shootout. No one scored in the first three rounds of the shootout, but Lakehead co-captain Adam Sergerie scored the winner on the Wolves fourth shootout attempt.
Alex Dupuis stopped all four shooters he faced, and made a number of big saves to hold the Gryphons at bay in the latter stages of the game.
The Molson Three Stars of the Game were:
1. Alex Dupuis, Lakehead
2. Mike Hammond, Lakehead
3. Justin Gvora, Guelph
Both teams are back at it Saturday night at 7:30PM at the Fort William Gardens.