THUNDER BAY – Devin Green was determined to play at least one more game at Fort William Gardens.
One of five graduating seniors honoured before Saturday’s home-ice, regular-season finale, Green’s heroic 35-save performance between the pipes may have saved their season.
At the very least, it gives them a chance to salvage it and climb into the OUA West men’s hockey playoffs with a win or two next weekend on the road against long-time rival Western.
It’s a tall order for a team that’s floundered for most of the post-Christmas portion of their schedule, but at least it’s still a possibility.
That’s all Green and his fellow graduates – Matt Alexander, Brennen Dubchak, Austin McDonald and Sam Schutt – could ask for, following Friday night’s disappointing 5-4 loss to the Guelph Gryphons with a 4-1 win in Saturday’s rematch.
“When all the seniors were lined up there on the goal line, before they announced the starting lineup, I skated by and I just told the guys this wasn’t the last time we were going to play in this building,” Green said.
“Obviously with (my) parents in town and their parents in town, I think the guys in the room got behind us and came out and performed.”
Dubchak, departing after five years, earned an assist on Daniel Del Paggio’s opening goal, a power-play marker that came with 4:42 left in the first.
The Kenora native, whose extended family – including his brother, former Thunderwolves forward Carson Dubchak – was at the game, said Green held up his part of the bargain.
“He played a hell of a game and he definitely did it for us. And we all pulled through too, we had goals from everybody,” Dubchak said.
Unfortunately the rest of the OUA’s Saturday schedule didn’t work out in their favour.
“We didn’t get a lot of help,” first-year coach Andrew Wilkins said, his team starting the night in the conference basement and ending it in a tie for ninth.
All three teams the Wolves were chasing wound up winning, at least two in upset fashion. Laurier edged third-place Western 7-4, Toronto stopped first-place Ryerson 5-4 in a shootout and Windsor jumped into fifth place with a 4-3 overtime win over second-place Brock.
The results leave Lakehead (11-14-1) a point behind eighth-place Toronto (10-12-4), two points short of seventh-place Laurier and three points back of Guelph (11-11-4) and Windsor (13-13-0) – with just two games to play.
“Whatever you want to call it, panic button, backs against the wall, whatever it is, we’re happy to get the win,” Wilkins said.
Del Paggio, who was later tossed for flipping the puck out of play after the whistle, had the lone goal of the opening period.
The Gryphons tied things up three minutes into the second, rookie Andres Kopstals outwaiting Green and sliding the puck into the open net.
The Wolves retook the lead exactly 10 minutes later, Caleb Boman taking a drop pass from Josh Laframboise and rifling a wrist shot past Guelph goalie Andrew Masters.
“I just cut through the middle, I saw an opening, I called for it and ended up getting (the puck). I picked my head up, saw the top corner and just popped it in,” said Boman, who leads all LU defenceman with seven goals, third best among blue-liners in the OUA.
Dexter Kuczek doubled the lead, going five-hole on Masters at 14:46 after Laframboise stole the puck from Gryphons forward Marc Stevens.
Scott Gall provided an insurance marker in the third, finding himself alone in front of the Gryphons net.
Tempers flared toward the end of the contest, a prolonged scuffle resulting in rash of misconducts, and later a match penalty awarded to Lakehead’s Brett Wolframe.
The Thunderwolves went 2-for-8 on the power play, killing all six of Guelph’s man advantage situations.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Del Paggio 8 (King) 15:18 pp. Penalties: King LAK (slashing) 5:43, Simmonds GUE (slashing) 10:57, Alexander LAK (cross checking) 11:15, Aagaard GUE (cross checking), Laframboise LAK (roughing) 14:11, Strand GUE (tripping) 14:25, Boyer GUE (slashing) 15:18, Gall LAK (tripping) 17:24.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Guelph, Kopstals 2 (Swenson, Lemcke) 3:05. 3. Lakehead, Boman 7 (Laframboise, Donnelly) 13:06 pp. 4. Lakehead, Kuczek 4 (Laframboise) 14:46. Penalties: Del Paggio LAK (game misconduct) 7:16, Soustal LAK (tripping) 7:53, Bench minor GUE (too many men) 12:54.
THIIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, Gall 6 (Butler) 4:23. Penalties: O’Connor GUE (high sticking) 1:02, Boyer GUE (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct), Lemcke GUE, Donnelly LAK (roughing after the whistle), Murphy LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct). 9:48, Boman LAK (interference) 10:08, Templeton GUE, Ma. Stevens GUE, Kuczek LAK (roughing, misconducts), Wolframe LAK (checking to the head, misconduct, match) 15:42, Aagaard GUE (spearing double minor) 19:06, Stevens GUE, MacDonald LAK (roughing) 19:59.
GAME DATA – SOG – Guelph 16-12-8-36, Lakehead 11-15-6-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – Guelph (0-6), Lakehead (2-8); Goaltenders – Guelph: Andrew Masters, Lakehead: Devin Green; A: 2,001.
