The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Regina Cougars 4-2 Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
There was a nice flow to start the game, with Regina looking to avenge their loss to the Thunderwolves on Friday night. Both teams traded a couple of chances early on.
Lakehead freshmen Trevor Gamache and Ryan Magill seemed intent on playing a physical style of hockey from the outset. The rough play came from both sides, as the Wolves Kris Hogg took a vicious hit at center ice, and did not return.
The hit seemed to spark Lakehead, as the intensity increased afterwards. Ryan McDonald converted a nice feed from Matt Caria to put the Wolves up 1-0 at 12:20 of the first. Victor Anilane had the other helper. Regina quickly answered back as Dillon Johnstone put one past Kyle Moir, who made his second straight start in net for the Thunderwolves, to knot the game up at 1-1.
Andy Zulyniak broke the deadlock at 16:03 of the first to regain the lead for Lakehead, with assists going to Anilane and McDonald. Then, with a Regina player in the box for hooking, Mike Quesnele fired a bomb from the point to put the Wolves in front 3-1. The assists were credited to Kalvin Sagert and McDonald.
The second period brought a lot of physical play and rough stuff after the whistle, as well as a steady parade to the penalty box. Dillon Johnstone scored his second goal of the game to put Regina within one at 6:31 on the power play. That was it for scoring in the second, but the excitement in the building was mounting. The end of the second period saw both teams jawing back-and-forth as they made their way to the dressing room.
Things settled down a bit in the third period, although the physical play remained prominent. Ryan Magill put the Wolves in front 4-2 on a breakaway goal at 5:35 of the third to round out the scoring and ice the game for Lakehead.
The Wolves now head into the Christmas break on a 9-game winning streak, and will return to the ice on December 29th and 30th when the Manitoba Bisons visit the Fort William Gardens for the annual RBC Varsity Cup Challenge.