THUNDER BAY – Sometimes all a hockey team needs is a break or two.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves came up on Lady Luck's good side on Saturday night, downing the No. 6 Brock Badgers for the second straight game, earning a 5-3 win that keeps their playoff hopes alive for yet another week.
Along the way the T-Wolves got a goal with less than a second left in the first and a gift from Badgers captain Jared Marino, whose errant pass to a teammate deep in his own zone missed its mark and instead wound up in his own net, goaltender Aidan Hughes on the bench for an extra attacker with a delayed penalty being called against Lakehead.
The empty netter, credited to rookie defenceman Jayden Wojchiechowski, came midway through the second, 71 seconds after Stephen Fox had scored to give Lakehead a 3-2 lead and proved to be a key turning point.
“Yeah, we were pretty excited,” said Griffen Fox of the Badgers miscue. “I think it probably deflated them more than it gave us a boost. For us it was just reset and get back to work.”
That's hockey, said Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins.
“Whenever you win games, you always look at the bounces you get and when you lose, you look at the bounces you didn't get. It's just a big part of the game and usually it helps out, for sure,” Wilkins said. “I haven't seen it in a long time. It was a big break for us.”
They caught their first big break with less than four seconds to go in the first.
Brock's Justin Brack was called for a slash, forcing a face-off deep in the Badgers zone.
Joe Mack took the draw and deftly punched it to Kevin Stiles, who took two swats the puck and buried it past Hughes, barely beating the green light and the horn that signals the period's end at Fort William Gardens.
After a lengthy discussion between the officiating staff and the two captains, the goal stood and the Thunderwolves owned a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Lakehead's Colin Van Den Hurk and Brock's ChristopheCote had earlier traded goals, the LU goal coming on a pass from Stiles on a delayed penalty call.
Johnny Schaefer tied the game three minutes into the second, ripping a wrist shot that beat Max Wright in the Lakehead net. Down 4-2, Roach cut the Thunderwolves lead by one, stealing the puck from Auger and outracing a pair of LU defenders, nudging a backhand past Wright.
Try as they might, the Badgers (6-3-1) couldn't solve the rookie netminder, pressed into duty on Friday night after the T-Wolves gave up 17 goals in their previous two games.
He made a game-saving point-blank save on Brock's Adam Berg eight minutes into the third and proved Wilkins was right to maintain faith in the mostly untried freshman.
“You've got to ride the hot hand,” Wilkins said.
For his part, Wright was happy to have that chance.
“It was a great team weekend. I thought we really stepped up. Last weekend was a bit disappointing, so everyone played really, really well this weekend. The atmosphere was great and I think the guys were really excited to be home,” said Wright, author of 29 saves on the night
The T-Wolves, who ended their regular season home schedule, finish off their regular season in two weeks time, playing Ryerson once and Toronto twice on the road. LU is a point ahead of Toronto, a team that holds three games in hand, and tied with York in the fight for a top-four spot in the OUA West. York has also played three fewer games than Lakehead.
Claw marks: LU's Spencer Blackwell entered the concussion protocol after taking a vicious elbow to the head late in the third.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Van Den Hurk (Stiles, Smith) 10:27. 2. Brock, Cote (Tymkin) 17:55. 3. Lakehead, Stiles (Mack) 19:59. Penalties: Van Den Hurk LAK (slashing) 4:08, Mack LAK (tripping) 5:19, Rollo BRK (slashing) 13:00, Brack BRK (slashing) 19:56.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Brock, Schaefer (Kyle, Pucci) 2:56. 5. Lakehead, S. Fox (Dempster) 8:35. 6. Lakehead, Wojciechowski 1 (unassisted) 9:36 en. 7. Brock, Roach (unassisted) 14:44 sh. Penalties: Roach BRK (interference0 6:21, Brack BRK (cross checking) 13:39, Auger LAK (hooking) 15:32.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. Lakehead, G. Fox (Auger, Smith) 16:29 sh. Penalties: N. Massie LAK (roughing), Cote BRK (roughing), Burnie BRK (roughing) 13:16, Kuczek LAK (cross checking, unsportsmanlike conduct) 13:25,
GAME DATA – SOG – Brock 11-15-6-32, Lakehead 14-14-7-35; Power plays (goals-chances) – Brock (0-6), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – Brock: Aidan Hughes, Lakehead: Max Wright: A: 1,607.
