The Lakehead Thunderwolves rebounded from Fridays loss with a 4-3 win at the Gryphon Centre in Guelph on Saturday night.
After a scoreless first period, Lakehead came out strong to start the second stanza. Kelin Ainsworth got the Wolves on the board first with a shot that eluded Guelph netminder Keith Hamilton just 1:47 into the period, with Jake Carrick and Andrew Wilkins getting the assists. Less than a minute later, Trevor Gamache fed Wilkins who banged the puck home from the slot while Lakehead was short-handed.
Mike Hammond extended the Thundewolves lead to 3-0 before the half-way mark, with assists going to Carrick and Ainsworth.
Guelph narrowed the margin when Nicholas Trecapelli beat Lakehead goalie Justin McDonald with the Gryphons on the power play late in the period, and the middle frame ended with the Wolves holding a 3-1 lead.
With the Thunderwolves on the power play, Ainsworth restored Lakeheads three-goal lead just 2:14 into the third period with his second goal of the game. Assists were given to Hammond and Mike Quesnele.
Guelphs Kyle Neuber banged home a rebound at 5:45 to close the gap to 4-2, and then things got dicey for the Wolves when Carrick was assessed a five-minute major penalty and ejected from the game for slashing with only 6:36 remaining.
The Lakehead penalty killers did a good job for most of the five minutes they were short-handed and McDonald made some timely saves, but Niklas Huard beat him on the glove side with a hard wrist shot with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Guelph continued to apply pressure, but the Thunderwolves held on to take the 4-3 win.
Shots on goal for the game were 33-29 in favor of the Gryphons.
The victory gives Lakehead a 3-1 record in the OUA, and puts the Wolves in a four-way tie for second place in the West Division.
Lakehead will return home next weekend for a two-game series against the Laurier Golden Hawks.