GUELPH, Ont. – The Lakehead Thunderwolves are running into hot goaltending at exactly the wrong time.
The T-Wolves took to the road on Thursday night for the first of two against the Guelph Gryphons, and despite outshooting their opponent 35-14, including a 12-2 margin in the final frame, fell 5-1.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Lakehead, who are clinging to seventh place in the OUA West, thanks in part to losses earlier in the night by Laurier and Western.
Guelph roared out to a 3-0 lead after one, scoring on three of just eight shots fired at LU goaltender Max Wright.
Hunter Brazier opened the scoring 63 seconds into the contest. Nolan DeGurse doubled the Gryphons lead at the 10:43 mark and Jaxon Camp notched his second of the season with 3:01 to play in the first.
Tyler Ho finally got the Thundewolves on the board five minutes into the second, but Luke Kutkevicius struck back nearly seven minutes later, giving Guelph a 4-1 lead. Jonah De Simone rounded out the scoring with a late third-period tally.
Tanner Wickware stopped 33 of 34 Thunderwolves shots to pick up the win between the pipes for Guelph. Each team went 1-for-5 on the power play.
The Thunderwolves (9-12-1) sit two points behind sixth-place Windsor, with six games to go in the regular season.
The Gryphons (11-12-0) slipped past the Lancers into fifth place.
The top six teams make the playoffs, with the sixth- and seventh-place teams competing in a play-in game for the final playoff spot.
