Wolves playoff chances wounded after loss to Waterloo

THUNDER BAY – The Lakehead Thunderwolves' playoff hopes are now on life support.

The Thunderwolves squandered a valuable opportunity to make up ground in the chase for the eighth and final playoff spot in the OUA West Division, falling 5-4 to the Waterloo Warriors at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.

The loss means Lakehead (6-14-4) needs to make up seven points over the final four games of the regular season to catch Toronto.

“We know we still have a fighting chance. We have a team that’s young but it’s got to be in our heads to keep fighting,” senior forward Carson Dubchak said. “It’s starting to slip away but we’re going to keep working at it. That’s all you can do.”

After Lakehead took an early lead in the second period, the Warriors exploded with four straight goals, including three in the span of 3:39, to take a commanding hold.

That forced the Thunderwolves to play behind the rest of the way, which has become emblematic of their entire season.

“We’re not a team built to chase the game. We’ve chased so many games and now we’re chasing the season,” Lakehead head coach Bill McDonald said.

Knowing the game was a borderline must win, Lakehead came out as the more aggressive side in the first period and controlled puck possession for most of the opening 20 minutes. The Thunderwolves had three power play chances in the period, coming up empty on them all.

But special teams got the Thunderwolves on the board just 40 seconds into the middle frame after Kelin Ainsworth made no mistake on a shorthanded breakaway.

That lead was shortlived, with Waterloo drawing even just 79 seconds later with Mike Moffat scoring right after that man advantage expired.

The Warriors got their go-ahead goal at 11:40 of the period with Stephen Silas netting a power play marker for his first of two on the night. That was followed by goals from Matt Amadio and Colin Behenna in the following 3:39 to gain some breathing room.

“It’s a couple of defensive zone (breakdowns), you go out there and take a shift off and then these teams top lines have some really good players and they’ll score on you,” Dubchak said.

Justin Sefton gave Lakehead some life heading into the second intermission, crashing the net from the blueline to bury a loose puck.

Tensions boiled over before the end of the period, with a line brawl breaking out behind the net.

Matt Alexander briefly pulled the Thunderwolves within one but Silas answered back for Waterloo to restore the two goal lead.

Dubchak gave the home fans a glimmer of light, rocketing home a one-timer with one minute left in the period but that was as close as they would get.

With desperation seeping into their game, the Thunderwolves know they need to stay disciplined to have a chance.

“We’re fairly immature and we start running around and trying to do things by ourselves and that’s not our team’s style. That’s not how our coaching staff built this team and we keep going off the blueprint,” Sefton said.

Claw marks: The Warriors (13-11-0) have clinched a playoff spot with the win...The Wolves are now 33-22-2 all-time against Waterloo...Ainsworth's goal was only the second time the Wolves have scored shorthanded this regular season...The Wolves travel to face the Guelph Gryphons next weekend. Lakehead beat twice this season during their non-conference Christmas series.

FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Nicoll WAT (holding) 9:58; Tsicos WAT (boarding) 12:26; Silas WAT (cross-checking) 13:18; Quesnele LAK (cross-checking) 19:51.

SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Ainsworth (unassisted) 0:40 sh. 2. Waterloo, Moffat (Mackie, Behenna) 1:59. 3. Waterloo, Silas (Behenna, Moffat) 11:40 pp. 4. Waterloo, Amadio (Tsicos) 14:08. 4. Waterloo, Behenna (Sonnenburg, Elliot) 15:09 6. Lakehead, Sefton (Schutt, C. Dubchak) 17:06 pp. Penalties: Nicoll WAT (roughing), C. Dubchak LAK (slashing), Quesnele LAK (roughing) 10:18; Cimino WAT (high-sticking) 15:50; Fife WAT (charging, misconduct) Sonnenburg WAT (misconduct), Quesnele LAK (cross-checking), Springer LAK (roughing, misconduct) 17:16.

THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Lakehead, Alexander (Quesnele, Maw) 7:00. 8. Waterloo, Silas 2 (Behenna, Mackie) 12:11. 9. Lakehead, C. Dubchak (Ainsworth, Ringuette) 19:00 pp. Penalties: Maw LAK (interference) 2:26; Moffat WAT (roughing), C. Dubchak LAK (slashing) 11:27; Underwood WAT (roughing), Schutt LAK (slashing) 14:12; Behenna WAT (cross-checking), Gray LAK (cross-checking) 16:05; Haines WAT (roughing) 17:59;

GAME DATA – SOG – Waterloo (13-17-11-41), Lakehead (10-11-10-31); Power plays (goals-chances) – Waterloo (1-4), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – Waterloo: Mike Morrison (27 saves, 31 shots), Lakehead: Devin Green (36 saves, 41 shots); A: 2,112.