The Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the York Lions 7-6 in overtime Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON.
Lakehead stormed out of the gate, looking to avenge Friday nights disappointing loss and played a much more physical brand of hockey from the outset. Jadran Beljo was robbed early on by York goaltender David Blair, but got his revenge at 5:52 of the first period on a partial breakaway, flipping the puck over Blairs shoulder to put Lakehead in front 1-0. Assists on the goal were credited to Trevor Gamache and Jadran Beljo. Kyle Moir made some huge saves in the first period to keep the Wolves in front. Ryan McDonald increased Lakeheads lead to 2-0 at 14:03 of the first period on a nice pass from Brock McPherson; the other assist went to Adam Sergerie.
The Lions responded when Kyle Lamb fired a shot over Kyle Moirs shoulder to pull York to within one at the 18:13 mark of the first period on a 5-on-3 power play.
The second period was not a good one for Lakehead, as York scored three unanswered goals; two by Jaskirat Gill and one by Adam Stuart, to pull in front 4-2. Ryan McDonald, who was flying all night, narrowed the margin to 4-3 at 16:40 of the second period, when he ripped a wrist shot over Blairs shoulder. Assists on the power-play goal went to Mike Quesnele and Sergerie.
With Ryan Magill in the box, Yorks Mackenzie Micks put the puck past Alex Dupuis, who took over for Moir after the fourth York goal, to put the Lions in front 5-3. Before the busy second period could end, Jadran Beljo scored his second goal of the game to make the score 5-4; the assists were credited to Andy Zulyniak and Quesnele.
It was a wild third period with a playoff-like atmosphere that saw both teams trading plenty of chances. Jadran Beljo got the crowd going at 6:40 when he scored his third goal of the game with Lakehead down two men to tie the game at 5-5. Yorks Matt Thomson put the Lions back in front at 7:29 on the powerplay, but just twenty seconds later, Brock McPherson scored Lakeheads second shorthanded goal of the period to knot things up at 6-6.
Fifty-six seconds into overtime, Mitch Maunu fired a wrist shot past Blair to give Lakehead the win.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Jadran Beljo, Lakehead
2. Ryan McDonald, Lakehead
3. Jaskirat Gill,York
The Wolves close out the regular season on the road next weekend at Waterloo.