The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Guelph Gryphons in Game #2 of the OUA West Division Quarterfinals on Friday night in Thunder Bay.
Lakehead controlled play early on, putting everything on net and hitting everything that moved; clearly motivated to make up for blowing a three-goal lead in game #1 on Wednesday night in Guelph.
Mike Quesnele looked particularly strong and was rewarded at 5:21 of the first as he lugged the puck up the ice, gained the blue line and put a low shot past Gryphon netminder Cody St. Jacques.
Jake Carrick was all over the ice in the period, and has two terrific chances to increase Lakeheads lead, but couldnt put the puck past St. Jacques.
The Wolves came out hungry again in the second period. Even though they started the period shorthanded after some skirmishes at the end of the first, Mike Hammond converted a beautiful pass from Jake Carrick just 1:57 into the second, to increase Lakeheads lead to 2-0.
Guelph answered back at 10:32 of the second on the power-play, as Guelph forward Ed Gale put a nice shot over the shoulder of Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis, looking to rebound after a shaky outing on Wednesday.
The Thunderwolves restored their two-goal lead less than four minutes later when freshman Keith Grondin walked in from the blue line and wired a wrister over St. Jacques glove, putting Lakehead in front 3-1. Assists on the goal were credited to Andrew Wilkins and Quesnele.
Lakehead kept the pressure on in the third period, clearly not wanting to let Guelph gain any form of momentum. The Wolves played a smart, physical game, getting the puck in deep and blocking a lot of shots.
Alex Dupuis was strong late in the third period making some big saves to keep Lakehead in front.
Lakehead scored its second shorthanded goal of the game with a little over two-minutes left in the game when Carrick buried on a breakaway to increase the Wolves lead to 4-1. Mitch Maunu was credited with the lone assist. Keith Grondin scored his second marker of the game with only one second remaining to make the final score 5-1 for the Thunderwolves.
The Molson 3 Stars of the game were:
1st Jake Carrick
2nd Keith Grondin
3rd- Victor Anilane
The third and deciding game of the series will be played Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.