The Lakehead Thunderwolves lost 4-3 in overtime to the Carleton Ravens on Thursday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON at the RBC Christmas Challenge.
It was a sloppy start to the game for both teams as the long Christmas layoff appeared to have given both Lakehead and Carleton tired legs in the opening period. Neither team could get much going offensively, save for a few nice chances by new Lakehead recruit Thomas Frazee, making his Thunderwolves debut after playing the first half of the season for Bakersfield of the ECHL.
Even though there wasnt much offense, it was clear it was going to be a physical game as Lakehead freshman Jake Carrick demolished Ravens defenseman Christian Bourdeau-Mifflen with an open-ice hit just one minute into the opening frame. That woke Carleton up as both teams traded hits throughout the rest of the period.
Both teams picked up where they left off to start the second period. Carleton gained a slight edge in shots as they seemed to focus on putting a lot of rubber towards Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis.
Carleton got on the board first at 11:34 of the second period on a funny looking goal as defenseman Michael Folkes let go of a harmless looking wrister from the blueline that eluded Dupuis.
With Lakehead on their heels, Ravens forward Andrew Self found the puck on his stick right in front of the net, and made to mistake as he increased Carletons lead to 2-0 at 18:58 of the second. Despite the two goals, Alex Dupuis was quite strong in between the pipes for Lakehead, making some great saves to keep his team in the game.
If the first two periods lacked excitement, the third period was the exact opposite as Lakehead came out intense and laying the body often. The Thunderwolves were clearly making a concerted effort to put more pucks on net. It paid off at 7:53 of the third, as freshman Mike Hammond, on a delayed penalty, outwaited Raven goalie Matthew Dopud and beat him short side to cut Carletons lead to 2-1.
Shortly after, new Thunderwolf Thomas Frazee sprung Keith Grondin on a clear breakaway. Grondin made no mistake as he rifled a shot past Dopud to knot the score up at 2-2, exciting the home crowd. Adam Sergerie put Lakehead in front 3-2 on a one-timer off a beautiful cross-ice feed from Matt Caria, who was making his return to the lineup from a knee injury.
After Lakehead received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the goal celebration, Carleton found itself with the man-advantage with time winding down. Jeff Hayes broke in and fired a shot over Dupuis shoulder, tying the game at 3-3 with only 49 seconds left to play.
In overtime, Carleton captain Brandon MacLean broke in snapped a wrist shot past Dupuis to give the Ravens the 4-3 win.
The Molson 3 Stars of the game were :
1. Brandon MacLean, Carleton
2. Adam Sergerie, Lakehead
3. Thomas Frazee, Lakehead
Both teams are back in action at 7:30 on Friday night at the Fort WilliamGardens.