The Lakehead Thunderwolves turned in a steady workmanlike performance to defeat the Guelph Gryphons 5-3 Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. Lakehead got scoring from five different players; Tobias Whelan, Dan Speer, Andrew Brown, Steve Rawski, and Jason Lange while Jesse Pyatt, Thomas Laplante, and Steve Morris tallied for the Gryphons. Erik Lodge had three assists for Lakehead.
The Thunderwolves are now 10-7-2 in OUA play (14-13-4 overall) while Guelph is 5-11-3 in conference play and 9-17-4 overall. Lakehead outshot Guelph 45-25 on the night before 3374 fans. Guelph netminder Ken Ritson made a lot of solid saves on the night to keep the game close but Guelph also missed a couple of good scoring chances.
Whelan opened the scoring at 3:02 of the first; blasting a one time past Ritson after a nice pass from Dan Speer. Guelph came back 22 seconds later when Laplantes shot handcuffed Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley and trickled in with assists going to Jeff Oginski and Pyatt. Guelph took the lead at 6:18 on the powerplay when Pyatt fired a one-time high glove side on Whitley with assists going to Matt Willoughby and Laplante. Lakehead outshot Guelph 18-10 in the first.
The Wolves tied it at 3:21 of the second when Speer scored the goal of the game; faking a Guelph d-man with a toe drag move and then deking Ritson and backhanding it in. Assists went to Lodge and Matt Jacques. Lakehead took the lead at 11:54 on the powerplay when Brown banged in a rebound off a point shot from Lodge with the other assist going to Brad Priestlay. The Gryphons tied it at 14:24 with a 5-on-3 man advantage when Morris poked in a slow slider past Whitley with assists going to Laplante and Willoughby. The Wolves outshot the Gryphons 13-7 in the second.
Lakehead took the lead at 4:46 of the third when Rawski fired a bullet from the left circle beating Ritson high glove side. Assists went to Jason Lange and Brown. The Wolves got the insurance marker at 11:52 when Lange knocked in a rebound off a point shot by Rawski with the other helper going to Mark Robinson. Lakehead outshot Guelph 14-8 in the final stanza.
Bad news for the Wolves is that forward Mike Wehrstedt, who just returned last weekend after recuperating from hernia surgery, took a hard hit into the end boards and injured his shoulder. This site will update you on his condition when we learn it.
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by Dave Trifunov of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, were:
1)Lakehead: Erik Lodge
2)Lakehead: Dan Speer
3)Guelph: Jesse Pyatt
The two teams take to the ice again at 7:30 EST Saturday night at the Gardens.