The No. 4 Lakehead Thunderwolves skated past the Windsor Lancers 6-3 at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay Saturday night. The Thunderwolves were led by rookie sensation Jeff Richards who scored a goal and added an assist. Richards scored three goals and three assists in the two game series against the Lancers. Bryan Duce also scored a goal and an assist for Lakehead. Windsor goaltender Kevin Rivest played an excellent game, turning aside 47 of 53 Lakehead shots.
It was an evening of special team play as Lakehead potted two powerplay goals and two shorthanded goals while Windsor scored two on the powerplay and one shorthanded. The game also saw Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune record an assist, his first. Windsor's goals came from Dan Murrell, Kyle Voy, and Stu Vandergeest. Lakehead has a huge edge in territorial play, shots, and scoring opportunities but penalties proved costly and Windsor remained close for much of the game, taking advantage of their chances. The win gives Lakehead a final OUA regular season record of 18-6 (23-10-2 overall) and Windsor ends its season with a record of 8-15-1 (9-20-1 overall).
Windsor jumped out to an early lead at 1:49 on the powerplay. It was a unique goal. A Windsor player forgot to join his linemates on their powerplay and the Lancers faced off four on four against the Thunderwolves. Play went into the Lancer end, and Murrell jumped over the boards to put Windsor at full strength and the puck had been cleared to the neutral zone where he picked it up and went in and beat Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune. Lakehead tied it up with a powerplay marker of their own at 8:30 when Jeff Adduono banged in a great pass from Chris Shaffer. Lakehead took the lead at 11:51 when Richards notched a shorthanded goal. Goaltender McCune made a nice pass to the speeding Richards who broke through two Windsor defensemen, deked Windsor goalie Kevin Rivest, then roofed the puck under the crossbar on the backhand. Windsor's Voy tied it up on the two man advantage at 12:28 when he converted a nice pass from Jason Melo. The rest of the period was the Kevin Rivest Show as he withstood a barrage of Lakehead shots, including two breakways. Lakehead outshot Windsor 19-4 in the first.
Lakehead's Craig Priestlay opened the second with a shorthanded goal at 2:34. He intercepted an errant Lancer pass then fired a hard wrist shot that Rivest stopped, but Priestlay banged in his own rebound. Robert Hillier gave Lakehead a 4-2 lead at 8:52 with a very beautiful goal. He skated through the two Lancer defensemen, dropped Rivest with a fake, then flipped the puck top corner on the backhand. Windsor Captain Stu Vandergeest capitalized on a Lakehead giveaway to score a shorthanded goal at 16:16 to make the score 4-3. Bryan Duce gave Lakehead the two goal margin again at 19:48, set up by a great play by Jeff Richards. Richards carried the puck in, while being held by a Windsor defenseman, and made a one-handed pass back to Duce at the point who fired in a hard wrist shot that beat a screened Rivest. The second ended with the Rivest Show Part II, with the besieged goaltender stopping another huge fusillade of Lakehead shots, including a fine breakaway save off Jeff Richards. Lakehead outshot Windsor 24-5 in the second.
The third saw Windsor pick up the pace a little but Lakehead seemed content to play a more defensive style. Lakehead's Brad Bartlett finished the scoring at 18:06 when he chipped in a lovely pass from Bryan Duce over a fallen Rivest. Lakehead outshot Windsor 10-7 in the third and 53-16 in the game.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said he was happy with his team's effort and looked forward to the playoffs. "The guys skated hard all night and all our lines played well. We had 54 shots on goal and might have had a few more goals but Windsor's goaltender was excellent. For a second year team, to end with an 18-6 record is a good accomplishme