Tobias Whelans shootout tally gave the Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team 6-5 win over the Manitoba Bisons at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. However, it was Lakehead Captain Jeff Richards who shone the brightest for the Wolves; scoring the natural hat trick and adding an assist. Lakeheads other goals came from Matt Jacques and Whelan. New netminder Matti Korhonen made some great saves on the night for the Wolves, though he did let out some scary rebounds; but the Finnish import stood tall in the shootout and stopped all three Manitoba shooters. Walkon player Nathan Breukelman had a strong game for the Wolves; notching two assists and controlling the puck very well.
Manitobas markers came from Aaron Starr, Chris Falloon, Kip Wild, Jon Cara, and Wade Davidson. The Bisons also got good goaltending from starter Steve Christie and reliever Justin Harris. Lakeheads record now goes to 1-1 while Manitobas sits at 2-1.
The game was a very fast paced affair; a complete opposite to Fridays slugghish game, and the teams traded opportunities and leads throughout the game. There were few penalties (Manitoba 4, Lakehead 6) as both teams were beginning to adapt to the new stricter rules now in place in the CIS.
Lakehead opened the scoring in the first when Tobias Whelan knocked in a rebound at 5:58 on the powerplay; assisted by Matt Jacques and Jeff Richards. Manitoba tied it at 14:47 on Starrs goal, assisted by Chris Falloon. Fallong then gave the Bisons the lead at 18:29 assisted by Kyle Nichols. Shots were even at 13 apiece in the first.
Lakeheads Jacques tied it at 1:24 with the man advantage; firing a low hard shot that fooled Manitobas Christie. Assists went to Nathan Breukelman and Mike Wehrstedt. The Bisons jumped ahead 3-2 at 8:34 when Kip Wild notched a shorthander converting a 3-on-1 rush from Jon Cara and Jamie Dowhayko. The Wolves Richards tied it again at 11:35; notching an unassisted shorthander on his own when he stole the puck and rushed in alone and beat new Manitoba netminder Harris on the breakaway. Richards gave Lakehead the 4-3 lead at 14:38 when he fired a long shot from just inside the left blueline that Harris got a piece of; but the puck still managed to roll across the line. Assists went to Breukelman and Mike Self. Shots were 12-10 in the second for the Wolves.
Action was fast in the third and the Bisons pressed and were rewarded at 8:25 when Cara jumped on a rebound that had been kicked out by Korhonen in the Wolves goal. The assist went to Eric Froystad. Manitoba took the 5-4 lead at 17:34 when Wade Davidson fired a high spinning shot from the left point that hit the back of a Lakehead defenseman and arced over Korhonen in the Lakehead goal. It looked like the Bisons might earn the weekend sweep but the Wolves pulled Korhonen with 49 seconds left and the faceoff in the Bisons end. Richards continued his heroics with a hard shot from the right side at a sharp angle that beat a screened Harris cleanly at 19:42.
The five minute OT was a wild one with both teams getting good scoring chances. The Bisons were robbed with about two minutes left when Korhonen made an initial diving save to the left of the goal but was down and out of the cage as the rebound came out and was fired hard by the Bisons Falloon but Lakehead d-man Mike Self played goalie and made a great chest save and then fired the puck out of the Lakehead end from his knees to save the game for the Wolves.
In the shootout; the Wolves Shandor Alphonso was stopped by Manitobas Harris while the Bisons Falloon was held out by Lakeheads Korhonen in the first round. Tobias Whelan was up next for Lakehead and he beat Harris with a nice fake, stick side, while Korhonen came up big against Manitobas Calin Wild. Lakeheads Richards was then denied by Harris and Korhonen put the game away for the Wolves when he made a great butterfly splits save on Manitobas Rile