Wolves tame Lions in third

The Lakehead Thunderwolves were caught flat-footed and shorthanded, but a strong third period erased a slow start and propelled the team to a 4-1 win over the visiting York Lions Friday night in their 2009-10 regular season debut.

LU forward Kris Hogg, who scored once and added an assist - and left the ice for a period of time in the first after his shoulder slipped out of its socket - said it wasn’t the best effort the team has put forth in his three seasons with the club, but judging from a three-goal third that saw the Wolves outshoot their opponent 19-3, the lesson was learned.

“Obviously it was a little slow start offensively. We thought our first 40 minutes wasn’t the way that we want to play hockey, it wasn’t the way that we want to play the rest of the year. In the third we came out and took it to them with three lines and it just goes to show how hard we work when we put our minds to it,” Hogg said.

It’s a theme that will probably be repeated occasionally throughout the 28-game schedule, but hopefully not very often, said Hogg, glad to get the win against a newly minted division rival.

“It’s huge for us. Like (coach) Joel (Scherban) said before the game, it doesn’t matter when you get your points, but the earlier you get them, the better. It’s only going to get harder down the stretch and every team coming in here, just like last year, is gunning for that spot at nationals and they know they might have to face us at nationals, so they’re bringing everything they’ve got.

Forward Mark Soares, who joined Scott Dobben and Victor Anilane on a very effective second line, and chipped in a pair of assists to fill the playmaking gap lost when former OUA scoring leader Dan Speer was tossed for a hit from behind before the game was half a period old, said the club knows there’s still plenty of room for improvement, despite the one-sided result.

“We obviously have quite a few things to work on still, but it was a big positive for the team and it was something to build on,” Soares said.

His line would top any list of positives that emerged from Friday’s game. From the hustle displayed by Dobben all night long, to Anilane’s blend of size and skill to Soares’ speed, the trio was in the face of an overworked Dave Davenport, who faced 45 Lakehead shots on the night, stopping 42.

“I think tonight we connected very well. Vic and Dobben, we were finding each other out there and we were all moving our feet and got things going. It was a good time tonight,” he said.

Scherban, making his official OUA debut behind the Thunderwolves bench, was not as easily impressed.

“No,” he said when asked if he thought the team put forth a decent effort.

“We had a solid third period.”

Scherban said he had no idea why a team that scored 11 goals in two games against Guelph the week before, struggled to find their offensive touch against the Lions.

“I was disappointed with the way we played the first 40 minutes. We just didn’t execute, we didn’t stick to the fundamentals that we’ve been working on in practice for the past month, and I thought York outworked us and out-battled us for the first 40 minutes.

Not one to dwell on the negative, a sombre Scherban said at least the players found it within themselves to pull themselves out of their early-game doldrums.

“I’m assuming they took it upon themselves and they went out their and they competed a lot harder in the third period and they started to execute and we started to win some of the one-on-one battles. We’re a really good team when we’re working and competing, but when we’re not, we’re going to get beaten,” Scherban said.

The Wolves pounced first when Hogg struck 7:11 into the game, taking a blueline-to-blueline pass from stay-at-home defender Mitch Maunu, skating in a lone on Davenport and putting the puck home on his backhand. It was the only goal of the opening stanza, giving the Wolves a lead that would hold up until midway through the second, when Nathanial Brooks beat LU goalie Kyle Moir with Scott Dobben in the box serving the second half of a four-minute spearing penalty.

Lakehead took it to York in the third, holding them without a shot for much of the first half of the period, while creating plenty of opportunities of their own. Anilane, who scored a non-conference goal last Saturday, got his first OUA point on Friday, starting a pretty three-way passing play between himself, Soares and Dobben, whose one-timer at 6:32 of the third proved to be the game-winner.

Rookie Andrew Wilkins roofed a power play goal less than three minutes later to up the LU lead to 3-1 and with 4:32 to play in regulation, defenceman Kalvin Sagert iced it with a point shot that changed directions in front of Davenport.

Claw marks: Dobben will not be in the lineup on Saturday. He has to take a mandatory field trip with his kinesiology class in order to graduate … Speer will serve an automatic one-game suspension for the hit from behind major and also won’t suit up on Saturday … Forward Arron Alphonso left the game early with an undisclosed injury. His status for Saturday remains unclear. Scherban said Devin Welsh, Brennan Menard and Mike Thibert, who has yet to dress in three games this season, will be dressed for Saturday’s rematch (7:30 p.m., Fort William Gardens).  All three were healthy scratches against the Lions … In other OUA men’s hockey play, Waterloo downed last year’s national championship runners-up Western 4-1, Brock edged Windsor 2-1, Carleton tripled RMC 6-2, Nipissing fell 8-3 to UQTR, Toronto bested Ottawa 2-1, Laurier doubled Guelph 4-2 and Ryerson slipped past Concordia 4-3.

FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Hogg 1 (Maunu) 7:11. Penalties: Bahen YRK (cross checking) 5:38, Dobben LAK (tripping) 6:33, Speer LAK (checking from behind major, game misconduct), Korte YRK (roughing), McPherson LAK (roughing) 8:11, Pain YRK (holding) 15:06.

SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. York Brooks 1 (Harrison) 9:56 pp. Penalties: Searle YRK (tripping) 3:57, Wilson LAK (tripping) 7:54, Dobben LAK (double minor spearing) 9:41 Korte YRK (roughing) 14:32., Searle (cross checking) YRK 15:58, Behan YRK (roughing after the whistle), Messier YRK (misconduct), Hyvarinen LAK (misconduct) 19:29.  

THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Lakehead, Dobben 1 (Soares, Anilane) 6:32. 4. Lakehead, Wilkins 1 (Hogg, Soares) 9:18 pp. 5. Lakehead, Sagert 1(Anilane, McPherson) 15:28 pp. Penalties: S. Alphonso LAK (roughing) 2:26, Brand YRK (holding) 8:15, Messier YRK (tripping) 13:47, Ross YRK (tripping) 18:46, Soares LAK (goaltender interference) 19:54.

Game Data - SOG - York 9-9-3-21, Lakehead 13-13-19-45; Power plays (goals-chances): York (1-4), Lakehead (2-8); Goaltenders - York: Dave Davenport, Lakehead: Kyle Moir; A: 2,616.