The Lakehead Thunderwolves were edged 3-2 in overtime by the UMD Bulldogs at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay on Friday night. The crowd of 3081 witnessed one of the most intense and physical games so far this season, as it felt more like a playoff game than a non-conference matchup.
Minnesota-Duluth stormed out of the gates quickly, peppering Lakeheads Jeff Bosch with 17 shots in the first period, but the Bulldogs were unable to solve the senior netminder who was appearing in his first game since suffering a concussion in early October and showing no signs of rust.
UMDs Kasimir Kaskisuo only had to make 5 saves in the opening frame, but a few of them were good quality chances by the Wolves.
Lakehead picked up its level of play in the second period, and Mike Hammond gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead when he broke in alone on Kaskisuo and beat him top-shelf at the 8:27 mark.
That was the only goal of the penalty-filled middle frame, one in which the Bulldogs narrowly outshot Lakehead 14-12 and saw both goalies make some key saves.
The physical continued in the third period, highlighted by a crushing hit by Lakehead defenceman Jay Gilbert on a speedy Bulldog forward, negating a good scoring chance.
UMDs Karson Kuhlman tied the game at 4:19 on a nifty one-handed goal while being hauled down from behind.
With Lakehead on the power play, Kelin Ainsworth scored from just outside the crease at 8:31 to put the Wolves back in front 2-1. Carson Dubchak and Mike Quesnele collected the assists. But the lead was short-lived, as Austin Farley replied for the Bulldogs while Lakehead was a man down just over a minute later to tie the score at 2-2.
That would close out the scoring in the third period,with UMD outshooting Lakehead 15-9 in the final 20 minutes of regulation time.
As the five-minute overtime session was winding down it looked like the game was headed for a shoot-out, but with only one second remaining on the clock the Bulldogs scored on an odd-man rush when Andy Welinski knocked home a rebound after Bosch had made a nice initial save on Kuhlman.
Final shots on goal in the game were 51-28 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Molson Three Stars of the Game were:
1. Jeff Bosch, Lakehead
2. Karson Kuhlman, UMD
3. Mike Hammond, Lakehead
Lakehead will look to rebound tomorrow night when the two teams square off again at the Fort William Gardens.