The Lakehead Thunderwolves came up just short for the second night in a row as they were edged 5-4 by the Lethbridge Pronghorns in front of 2093 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
The contest was a wide-open affair with plenty of end-to-end action compared to the chippy game the previous evening.
Newcomers played a major role for the Wolves, accounting for three of fourLakehead goals.
Patrick Murphyput the Thunderwolves up 1-0at 8:29 of the first period on a goal assisted by Grant Valliquette and Zach Whitlock.
Evan Mignault extended the Wolves lead to 2-0 when he fired the puck past Lethbridge netminder Garret Hughson at 13:37 while Lakehead held the man-advantage, with Brennen Dubchak and Matt Alexander getting the assists.
The Pronghorns replied with two goals less than 30 seconds apart Justin Valentino scored first on the power play at 16:47 and then Spenser Jensen beat Wolves goalie Devin Green at 17:08 to even the score at 2-2.
Ryan Chynoweth got the only goal of the second period at the 15:40 mark to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
Dylan Butler tied the game at 3-3 when he converted on the power play after being set up by Kelin Ainsworth and E.J. Faust 2:15 into the final frame, but Lethbridge retook the lead when Mitch Maxwell dented the twine at 8:42.
The Pronghorns appeared to put the game away with an empty-netter by Torrin White with just over a minute on the clock, but Whitlock narrowed the gap to 5-4 with 39 seconds remaining in the game on a goal assisted by Valiquette and Tyler Anton.
Austin McDonald had a great chance to send the game into overtime in the waning seconds, but he was denied by Hughson as Lethbridge held on for the win.
Total shots on goal for the night were 37-36 for the Pronghorns.
The Molson three stars of the game were:
1.Dylan Butler, Lakehead
2.Mitch Maxwell, Lethbridge
3.Zach Whitlock, Lakehead
The Wolves will look to get into the win column when they host the Manitoba Bisons for a pair of games at the Fort William Gardens next weekend.