THUNDER BAY – The power play needs a little work, but the Lakehead Thunderwolves emerged from the Christmas break with a win.
Despite allowing a pair of shorthanded goals off turnovers late in the first period that helped cut LU’s three-goal lead to one, the Thunderwolves were able to hold off a pesky York Lions team and record the 4-3 triumph in front of 2,674 fans at Fort William Gardens.
Unfortunately, as Drew Carey used to say on Whose Line is it Anyway, the points don’t matter, the game a non-conference affair before the two teams restart the OUA regular season on Saturday night.
But a win’s a win and sets the stage for what promises to be a tough second half for a Thunderwolves squad with little margin for error in the tightly packed OUA West, where just five points separates first from eighth – and only six teams make the playoffs.
The Thunderwolves, who finished the first half at 8-6-1, are tied for fifth with Brock, one point-ahead of seventh-place Toronto and two points up on Waterloo, with games in hand on both.
“A win’s a win, so that’s obviously a positive note,” said fifth-year forward Justin Paul, who scored the game’s first two goals four minutes apart in the early stages of the opening period.
“But there’s a lot of things to work on. We get them tomorrow, so there’s a lot of things right away, when we start the regular season against the same team you just played. Not many games, so we’ve got to learn from these things, correct the things we did wrong and keep going with the things we did right.”
It was a good lesson to learn in a game that doesn’t count in the standings, said LU coach Andrew Wilkins.
The Wolves played sloppy hockey at times, evidenced by Thomas Lacombe’s two shorthanded tallies, the goals coming less than two minutes apart in the final three minutes of the first.
“There were definitely some things that were sloppy – a lot sloppier than I would have liked. But we’ve got to get through it. It starts tomorrow and it’s going to happen fast and we’ve got a tough schedule,” Wilkins said.
“That’s the challenge of the game, where you end up beating a team that had a couple of good chances. They’re going to feel confident and feel hungry to find a way to get it done.”
Paul set the tone early for the Thunderwolves.
He took a shot from the left circle that lasered past York starter Carter Serhyenko, just 3:06 into the game.
Four minutes later he did it again, circling out in front and blasting a wrist shot into the Lions net.
“Two good plays for our line, working the play in the o-zone. Two shots that just found the back of the net, but it sets the tone up right, gets things rolling. The first goal is huge, so we like to get them anytime we can,” Paul said.
Liam Whittaker added a third LU goal with 5:03 to go in the first, but Lacombe made no mistake on a shorthanded breakaway at 17:10, the first of three goals T-Wolves starter Christian Cicigoi allowed before giving way to Carson Cherepak midway through the second.
Lacombe added his second of the night at the 19:06 mark of the first.
Keighan Gerrie was quick to respond to open the second, gobbling up a huge rebound to make it 4-2 three minutes in.
Two minutes later Chase Sandhu buried a rebound to cut the LU lead to one again. It proved to be the final goal of the night.
Cherepak was a difference-maker between the pipes, stopping all eight shots he faced, including shutting down Olivier Lamothe on a breakaway, coming out of the penalty box, late in the second.
The Wolves were able to kill off six shorthanded situations and survived a 12-minute run without a whistle in the third.
Game time Saturday night is 7 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Paul (unassisted) 3:06. 2. Lakehead, Paul (unassisted) 7:09. 3. Lakehead, L. Whittaker (Badalamenti) 14:57. 4. York, Lacombe 17:10 sh. 5. York, Lacombe (Oakley) 19:06 sh. Penalties: R. Whittaker LAK (tripping) 0:52, D. Massie LAK (roughing), Georgiev YRK (roughing) 6:43, Senken YRK (cross checking) 16:49, McAndrews YRK (hooking) 18:47.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Lakehead, Gerrie (Mack) 3:00. 7. York, Sandhu (Georgiev, Walker) 5:04. Penalties: Clark YRK, Sharun LAK (roughing) 2:21, L. Whittaker LAK (interference) 11:05, Lamothe YRK (slashing) 12:12, Fasciano LAK (cross checking) 14:21, N. Massie LAK (tripping) 16:01.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: Penalties: Hasselgren LAK (tripping) 14:10, Georgiev YRK (), Walker YRK (), R. Whittaker LAK () 17:56.
GAME DATA – SOG – York 11-9-4-24, Lakehead 12-12-8-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – York (0-6), Lakehead (0-3); Goaltenders – York: Carter Serhyenko, Alex Chu, Lakehead: Christian Cicigoi (16 shots, 13 saves), Carson Cherekpak (11:05 second); A: 2,674.
