The Lakehead Thunderwolves kicked off the season against the Prince Edward Island Panthers on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in front of a crowd of 3,444.
It was a spirited opening period with both teams trading some good chances early on. Both squads were physical and the Wolves were able to skate with the Panthers which already had already played four games this season.
Mike Hammond got the Thunderwolves on the board first at 14:08 of the opening frame after some nice work down low from Jake Carrick and Matt Kaarela.
In the second period, Panthers forward Chris Desousa evened things up after a breakdown in the Lakehead end, firing a nice shot past Lakehead goalie Jeff Bosch.
After Wolves freshman Cody Alcock was stopped on a breakaway, the momentum swung the other way as UPEI took it back in the other direction and took the lead on a broken play. Travis McIsaac was credited with the marker, putting the Panthers up 2-1.
In the third, the Panthers increased their lead to 3-1 as forward Tyler Brown took the puck to the net and snuck it past Bosch.
Lakehead kept pressing but couldnt get anything past Wayne Savage in the Panthers net.
Travis McIsaac put the game away for UPEI late in the third giving them the 4-1 victory.
The Panthers outshot Lakehead 40-29 on the night.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1st Travis McIsaac, UPEI
2nd Wayne Savage, UPEI
3rd Jeff Bosch, Lakehead
Both teams are back at it Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens.