The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Guelph Gryphons 5-1 on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON. The Wolves controlled the pace from the outset, and got a strong game from goaltender Alex Dupuis who made 40 saves in the win.
The Thunderwolves came out extremely physical, dominating the play from the get-go. It didnt take long for Lakehead to get on the board, when captain Jordan Smith fired a laser from the top of the circle at 2:19 of the first period, with assists going to Andy Hyvarinen and Mitch Maunu. After some nice stops by Dupuis, Hyvarinen broke in on a partial breakaway and went glove side on Guelph goaltender Cody St Jacques to put the Wolves up 2-0. Assists went to Adam Sergerie and Dupuis.
Lakehead started the second period killing a 5-on-3 power play due to some rough stuff at the end of the first. Just 45 seconds in, Guelphs Timothy Priamo snuck a shot past Dupuis to put them within one. The Wolves then continued their physical play and controlled the tempo of the game. Kris Hogg put the Wolves up 3-1 at 6:32 of the second, with assists by Victor Anilane and Trevor Gamache. Sergerie scored his third goal of the season to put the Wolves up 4-1 when he converted at 10:32, assisted by Matt Caria and Ryan McDonald. Lakehead padded its lead toward the end of the period when defenseman Pierre-Marc Guilbault scored his first goal of the year on a bad angle slap-shot to put the Wolves up 5-1. Assists went to Caria and Sergerie.
The third period saw plenty of physical play and some nice chances from both sides, including some timely stops from Dupuis, but no scoring as Lakehead coasted to victory.
Leading the scoring for Lakehead was Kris Hogg, Andy Hyvarinen and Adam Sergerie with one goal and one assist each, and Matt Caria with two assists.
The Molson 3 stars of the game were:
1.Kris Hogg
2.Jordan Smith
3.Alex Dupuis
Game two of the series goes Saturday night at 7:30.