Although they outshot their opponent 38-21, the Lakehead Thunderwolves were shut out 4-0 by the York Lions before 1,969 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Josh LaFrance netted what turned out to be the winner just 5:10 into the contest with a nifty toe-drag and a laser that eluded Wolves’ netminder Devin Green low on the blocker side.
The Lions got a short-handed marker at 19:42 of the first when Morgan Messenger flew down the left wing and beat green high on the short side, giving York a 2-0 lead.
Lakehead had a great chance to get one back soon after, but Brennen Dubchak was robbed by the glove hand of Lions’ goalie Mack Shields.
York added another shorty at 15:54 of the second with a 2-on-1 break capped off by Reid Jackman, putting Lions ahead by three.
Austin McDonald was stopped point blank by Shields, and Matt Alexander, Dylan Butler and Jonathon Masters were stymied as well at different points in the game. Daniel Del Paggio rang one off the post, but that was as close as the Wolves would come to breaking the shutout.
The Lions’ Alex Mowbray sealed it with an empty-netter late in the third period to round out the scoring.
Both sides were held scoreless on the power play, with Lakehead having four attempts compared to three for York.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
- Mack Shields, York
- Morgan Messenger, York
- Matt Alexander, Lakehead
The Wolves will embark on their final road trip of the regular season with stops at Ryerson, Windsor and Western next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.