THUNDER BAY – Ho Ho hold off pushing the panic button.
Rookie forward Tyler Ho scored twice and fellow freshman Ben Badalamenti netted the overtime winner with 1:15 to go in the extra frame Saturday night as the Lakehead Thunderwolves avoided being swept at home and picked up their first win of the 2021-22 campaign, downing the visiting York Lions 4-3.
“We knew we were good enough to beat them and we just had to put it all together and we found a way tonight. It felt good,” said Badalamenti, a Harrison Township, Mich. Native who spent parts of two seasons playing major junior hockey and last season in the North American Hockey League.
A 10-goal scorer with the Saint John Seadogs in 2019-20, the game-winner was his first in a Thunderwolves uniform.
“The puck was at (our) blueline and there was a scrambling play. They took a shot and (Kyle Auger) skated up and I knew it was going to come to me,” Badalamenti said.
“I knew I had to put it in to end this game.”
The emotions erupted when the goal went in, the team breathing a collective sigh of relief at avoiding a three-game sweep on home ice.
Forward Joe Mack, who was doubled over in pain earlier in the night after taking a shot off his leg, scored the Wolves second goal of the night, a power play marker midway through the second, and said the victory was especially sweet given who scored the winner.
“Ben's my roommate, so we came here together. We've known each other for a while. Once he scored that I jumped on him right away. That was a great feeling for him and to get that win was awesome,” said Mack, a 21-year-old who hails from New Hudson, Mich. who brings three years of Ontario Hockey League experience to the Thunderwolves.
“The boys were definitely feeding on that energy and it was great to get those two points.”
For the first time in the young OUA season, the Wolves jumped in front first.
Ho, a Surrey, B.C. product, struck first, beating York goaltender Dalton Ewing – the team's third different goaltender in three nights – on the power play at the 11:11 mark of the opening period, a lead they'd take into the break.
Brendan Browne tied things up for the Lions seven minutes into the second, out-maneuvering an LU defender before shovelling it past net-minder Brock Aiken, making his first start of the season.
Aiken was caught out of position on the Lions second goal, a wraparound by Alex Uryga that just slipped past his skate blade and into the LU net. Mack tied it up on the power play 1:35 later, one-timing a snap shot that Ewing couldn't catch up to quickly enough. But the Lions retook the lead again before the period ended, Braydon Buziak scoring just nine seconds after Jordan King was assessed a high sticking double minor.
Ho evened things again nine minutes into the third, going five-hole on Ewing to send the game to OT. Lakehead's Dexter Kuczek had an early chance to put the game away, sent in alone on a clear-cut breakaway, but Ewing stood tall.
The teams each fired 32 shots at the opposing net.
Lakehead (1-2-1) hosts Ryerson for three next weekend.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Ho 1 (Mack, King) 11:11 pp. Penalties: Lucchini YRK (holding) 10:28, Figueira YRK, Peters LAK (roughing), Badalamenti LAK (boarding) 13:44, Bench Minor YRK (too many men) 14:40.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. York, Browne (Evanish, Buziak) 6:58. 3. York, Uryga 1 (unassisted) 9:12. 4. Lakehead, Mack 1 (Auger, Ho) 10:47 pp. 5. York, Buziak (Bean) 14:39 pp. Penalties: Pouliot YRK (slashing) 10:16, King LAK (double minor, high sticking) 14:30, Riley YRK (holding) 18:07, D'Agostino YRK, Williams LAK (roughing after the whistle) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Lakehead, Ho 2 (Edwards) 9:07. Penalties: Urgya YRK (tripping) 2:21, Bean YRK (cross checking) 3:55, Blackwell LAK (hooking) 5:20, Urgya YRK, Riley YRK, Williams LAK, Auger LAK (roughing) 8:44.
OVERTIME
Scoring: 7. Lakehead, Badalamenti (Auger) 5:45. Penalties: None.
GAME DATA – SOG – York 6-14-9-3-32, Lakehead 9-11-9-3-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – York (1-3), Lakehead (2-5); Goaltenders – York: Dalton Ewing, Lakehead: Brock Aiken A: 1,504.
