The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team gave notice that they may have found their scoring touch as they rode an explosive four-goal second period to defeat the No. 6 Laurier Golden Hawks by a 6-1 margin Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Lakehead goes to 3-2-1 in OUA play while Lauriers record is 3-1-1; good for 7 points apiece in the OUA Far West Division. Western and Waterloo also have 7 points in the divisional standings.
Unlike Fridays 3-2 OT shootout loss to the Hawks where Lakehead totally dominated play but couldnt pull the trigger; the Wolves showed signs that their talented lineup may be starting to gel. The Wolves scored a number of pretty goals and also simplified their attack by firing the puck often at the Laurier net and creating traffic in front of the goal.
Lakehead was led by Kris Hogg, Brock McPherson, Scott Dobben, and Mark Soares with a goal and an assist each. Single goals came from Devin Welsh and Dan Speer. Mark Voakes scored Lauriers goal.
Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley (2-1-0 OUA play) played an excellent game; turning aside 37 Laurier shots. Whitley also picked up an assist in the game. Laurier Jeff MacDougald (3-1-1 OUA), who played a great game Friday, was unable to stop the quick flowing Lakehead attack. Final shots on goal were 39-38 Lakehead.
Laurier was 1-7 on the powerplay while Lakehead was 1-6.
Lakehead's defence played a very solid game on the night and Ryan Baird and Mitch Maunu played strong matches. Baird did a couple nice long offensiverushes and Andy Zulyniak also put in some good minutes.
Lakehead's fourth forward line of Richard Molenaar, Matt Maisonneuve, and Devin Welsh played a very high energy game and were a constant thorn in Laurier's side with their constant forecheck pressure. Welsh played perhaps his best game in a Lakehead uniform and Molenaar was the defensive star of the night for the Wolves and his PK work was excellent.
Head Coach Don McKee is still juggling with forward line combos to find which work best and the lines of McPherson, Speer, and Arron Alphonso was very effective with Speer playing his best game of the season as was the line of Dobben, Hogg, and Mark Soares. Soares tally in the third period was a highlight reel goal and his first of the season and if he has foundhis scoring touch again; opponents had better take notice. Hogg also played an excellent two-way game and Dobben seemed very confident on the ice.
The Molsons Three Stars were:
1)Lakehead: Chris Whitley
2)Lakehead: Kris Hogg
3)Lakehead: Richard Molenaar
Lakehead continues OUA play next weekend on the road when they travel to London, Ontario to face their arch-rivals from Western.
Laurier 1 at Lakehead 6
Oct 25, 2008 - Fort William Gardens
1st Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - M. Soares Lkhd (tripping) 6:52, T. Townsend Wlu (holding) 17:09, D. Kivell Lkhd (tripping) 20:00
2nd Period
Scoring - 1. Laurier, M. Voakes (1) (P. Magistrale, C. Kennedy) 0:31 PP
2. Lakehead, D. Welsh (1) (R. Molenaar, A. Zulyniak) 7:29
3. Lakehead, B. McPherson (3) (J. Smith, R. Baird) 10:04 PP
4. Lakehead, K. Hogg (4) (S. Dobben, M. Soares) 15:07
5. Lakehead, D. Speer (2) (A. Alphonso, B. McPherson) 19:41
Penalties - L. Girard Wlu (hooking) 3:34
3rd Period
Scoring - 6. Lakehead, M. Soares (1) (K. Hogg, C. Whitley) 5:09
7. Lakehead, S. Dobben (2) (A. Zulyniak) 19:45
Penalties - T. Whelan Lkhd (hooking) 7:35, M. Maunu Lkhd (roughing) 11:21, M. Voakes Wlu (cross checking) 15:03, T. Townsend Wlu (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 15:17, A. Hyvarinen Lkhd (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 15:17, J. Borrows Wlu (10-minute misconduct) 16:00, A. Maccarone Wlu (10-minute misconduct) 16:00, A. Brown Lkhd (roughing) 16:00, D. Welsh Lkhd (10-minute misconduct) 16:00, A. Zulyniak Lkhd (high sticking) 16:00, D. Kivell Lkhd (tripping, 10-minute misconduct) 16:08, N. Vergeer Wlu (check from behind, game misconduct) 16:55, R. Bernardi Wlu (hooking) 18:32
WLU Shots: 11 13 14 TOTAL: 38
LKHD Shots: 5 18 16 TOTAL: 39
Power Play Conversion
Laurier 1-7. Lakehead 1-5.
Goaltenders
Laurier
MacDougald 3-1-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 33 GA: 6 [L]
Lakehead
Whitley 2-1-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 37 GA: 1 [W]