The Lakehead Thunderwolves dominated the Laurier Golden Hawks 6-0 on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in front of a crowd of 2,814.
Things could have started out bad for Lakehead as the Wolves took a penalty just 30 seconds into the game. Adam Sergerie made sure that wasnt an issue as he completed a sweet give-and-go with Mike Hammond to bury a shorthanded goal at 1:52 of the first period. Laurier starting netminder Ryan Daniels was strong for Laurier as the Thunderwolves had two 5-on-3 opportunities in the period, as well as a number of power-plays.
Lakehead starting netminder Alex Dupuis was also very strong in the first, making a number of huge saves to keep the Thunderwolves in front, including a stop of Laurier forward Thomas Middup on a penalty shot after he was taken down on a breakaway by Lakeheads Mike Quesnele.
Penalties continued to be the downfall for the Golden Hawks in the second period as they had a constant stream of players heading to the penalty box. With the two-man advantage, Mike Quesnele scored his 7th goal of the season on a rocket one-timer from Mitch Fillman and Mike Hammond at 8:05 of the second. Then at 9:12, while still on the power-play, Keith Grondin scooped up a loose puck and put it behind Daniels to increase Lakeheads lead to 3-0.
Alex Dupuis kept Laurier off the scoreboard in the second when Lakehead ran into some penalty trouble of its own, making a huge toe save and multiple others.
Devin Welsh closed out the scoring in the second as he kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and fired it past Daniels at 18:59 of period. The goal was unassisted.
Laurier made a goaltending change to start the third period, inserting second year netminder David Clement. It didnt make much of a difference as Victor Anilane put Lakehead up 5-0 at 1:22 of the third period when he found a loose puck in front of the net and made no mistake. Assists on the goal were credited to Jason Grecica and Ryan Magill.
Ryan Magill closed out the scoring at 17:24 of the third on a one-timer, just as his stick exploded. Assists were credited to Grecica and Anilane.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Alex Dupuis, Lakehead
2. Mike Hammond, Lakehead
3. Mike Quesnele, Lakehead
Both teams are back at it Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens. As always, the puck drops at 7:30 PM.