Gone are the days that the Western Mustangs were an automatic sell-out at Fort William Gardens.
With the Lakehead Thunderwolves (5-9-2) mired in their worst season in recent memory, the crowds stayed away Friday night.
They missed a great battle, worthy of one of the greatest rivalries in OUA hockey.
The No. 10 Mustangs (11-3-0), buoyed by a pair of power-play tallies, controlled the puck most of the night and cruised to a 3-2 triumph, their six straight OUA win. It was Lakehead`s third loss in four outings.
Ryan Magill, who led Lakehead with a goal and an assist, said the team is trying to find positives in a season that hasn't exactly gone as planned.
"You want to win, but tonight was the first night we had some guys back from injury and all in all, everything considered, I thought we had a pretty good effort. But I think we beat ourselves a bit. That's part of the learning process. Good teams don't do that."
The fifth-year veteran, whose shorthanded goal at 12:26 of the third pulled the Wolves within a goal, was referring to the team's lack of discipline.
Take the third period, for example.
With Lakehead on the power play and buzzing around the Western net, defenceman Mike Quesnele was called for checking to the head, then picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that left LU shorthanded for more than three minutes. It also gave him 396 penalty minutes in his career, tying Andrew Brown's all-time Lakehead mark.
Later in the third the Wolves appeared to be headed to the power play, but a retaliation call and a scrum left them down a man with 5:34 to play.
While Magill managed to score, beating Western goalie Greg Dodds on a breakway backhand, Lakehead coach Bill McDonald said he's not sure how they ended up shorthanded.
"I've coached a long, long time and I have to see the melee again, but the whole time (the officials) were talking about it I was drawing up a 5-on-3 for us and it ended up being a power play for them," McDonald said.
Teams can't afford to give opponents like Western breaks like that, he added.
"They're a good team," McDonald said. "I'll give them that. We had the effort, we started good, but we spent a lot of time killing penalties tonight and maybe it caught us in the end."
The Mustangs spotted Lakehead an early 1-0 lead, Nathan Bruyere connecting on a hard wrist shot for the tally in his first game back after missing five with a knee injury.
But Western took over from there, scoring three straight to take a 3-1 lead into the third.
Steven Reese netted the equalizer at the 13:08 mark of the first on the power play and Stefan Salituro lifted them in front for good with 2:12 to go in the opener, a brilliant solo effort that saw him weave through the LU defence with impunity.
Julian Cimadamore extended the lead to two goals, a net-side tap in that Lakehead goalie Justin McDonald had no chance to stop.
The Wolves had a couple of great chances to claw back into the contest, but couldn't connect. Magill fired wide on the first chance, then Dodds stuffed leading scorer Mike Hammond in tight. Camadamore deflected a shot off the crossbar later in the period, with Quesnele serving his double minor.
Western coach Clarke Singer said the game was a tough, hard battle between a couple of rivals with a long history.
"There were probably too many penalties both ways for my liking, but there was some intensity there between the two teams in the last couple of games before Christmas. It wasn't pretty and I think Bill (McDonald) would say that too ... But as a I said to the guys in the dressing room, any time you come into this building and get two points you've got to be happy with it."
Claw marks: Attendance was announced at 2,283, but far fewer were actually in attendance ... The Wolves were without defenceman Mitch Fillman (upper body) and Keith Grondin (knee). Also sitting were forwards Nathan Cull, Dylan Butler, Matt Kaarela and Jake Wright ... Kim Wildhaber was the back-up goalie while Jeff Bosch recovers from a concussion.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Bruyere (Carrick, Magill) 6:07 pp. 2. Western, Reese (Mckee, Micallef) 13:08 pp. 3. Western, Salituro (Mckee) 17:48. Penalties: Cimadamore WST (hooking) 5:04, C. Dubchak LAK (slashing) 6:18. Gilbert LAK (interference) 9:23, Tessier LAK (high sticking double minor) 10:31, Gilbert LAK (hooking) 14:27, Corson WST (boarding) 19:17.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Western, Cimadamore (Paltridge, Corrente) 16:06 pp. Penalties: MacDonald WST (high sticking) 12:41, M. Quesnele LAK (boarding) 14:54, Gaskin WST (slashing) 17:39.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, Magill (Tessier) 12:26 sh. Penalties: Gaskin WST (holding) 4:32, M. Quesnele LAK (checking to the head, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct, served by Hynnes) 5:49, Maw LAK (roughing) 10:50, Corrrente (slashing), Ouellette (slashing, boarding) Ainswlorth LAK (roughing), Hynnes LAK (check from behind, misconduct), Maw LAK (double minor) 14:26, Corrente WST (cross checking) 18:43, Gaskin WST (misconduct) 20:00.
GAME DATA – SOG – Western 12-15-4-31, Lakehead 7-10-10-27; Power plays (goals-chances) – Western (2-8), Lakehead (1-7); Goaltenders – Western: Greg Dodds; Lakehead: Justin McDonald; A: 2,282.
