THUNDER BAY – The Lakehead Thunderwolves are 0-2 out of the gate, but it's not for lack of chances.
At one point in the first period, the T-Wolves were out-shooting the York Lions 14-1. But it's the ones that find the back of the net that count and they only managed to put the puck past Brendan Bonello just once on Friday night.
The Lions, on the other hand, made the most of their limited chances in the early going, scoring on just their third shot of the night, beating LU goaltender Blake Weyrick on two other occasions to score a 4-1 road victory, their second straight to start the 2021-22 campaign.
Once again, the chances just didn't turn into goals for the home side.
“For the first two nights it was tough, when you get that many good shots, that many good opportunities. But you know what, we're generating (chances). Guys are working hard. I think when you're getting that type of results out of your team from a tactical standpoint, you're happy with it,” said Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins, his club falling to 0-2-0.
“I know that they're upset, only scoring one goal. But we ran into a couple of good goalies – give them credit. It's just the way it goes sometimes.”
Lakehead put the pressure on for most of the first, but failed to generate many true scoring chances. A late power play gave the Lions just the spark its offence needed.
With Dilan Peters in the box serving a kneeing penalty, Weyrick found himself flat on the ice, an easy mark for York's Brendan Browne, who pounded home a pass in the slot from behind the LU goal line and the Lions took a 1-0 lead into the first period break.
Lakehead tied it up early in the second, the hardworking Spencer Blackwell working the puck past Bonello in the Lions net.
It was his first in an LU uniform
“It felt good, it was a little chip off the shoulder,” said Blackwell, who was also turned aside on a partial break late in the third, the Thunderwolves on the penalty kill at the time.
“It was good to get the boys rallied up.”
But the euphoria of drawing even lasted all of 30 seconds, York's Alex Uryga slamming it home in traffic to put the Lions back on top with a 2-1 advantage.
“It was definitely a setback, but we rallied back,” said Blackwell, who spent last season with the Miramichi Timberwolves of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.
“It was unfortunate we couldn't get the bounces that were there. Stuff like that happens, so we'll keep rallying back. I'm sure down the road we're going to figure it out and we're going to turn into a pretty good hockey team. We're already a pretty good hockey team – we're going to get the bounces and I think we're going to do pretty well, coming up.”
Nick Maelencia and Brandon Yeamans added insurance markers in the the third to put the game out of reach, the Thunderwolves offence struggling to light the lamp on consecutive nights, coming off Thursday's 6-2 loss in their season opener.
“I thought we managed the puck better,” Wilkins said. “I think there were a couple of goals against that a mistake resulted in a goal. We have to clean that up. I thought our first period was really good for them to come out of that period up 1-0 was huge for them.”
Jordan King had Lakehead's best chance to cut the gap in the third, but was stymied by Bonello, in alone on the York netminder with five minutes to go in regulation.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. York, Browne (Evanish) 16:14 pp. Penalties: Mannara YRK (double minor, kneeing) 4:55, Peters LAK (tripping) 14:57.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Lakehead, Blackwell 1 (Fox, Egan) 1:54. 3. York, Uryga 1 (Breault, Buziak) 2:24. Penalties: Pouliot YRK (roughing) 5:39, Uryga YRK, Peters Lak (roughing) 18:47.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. York, Malencia 1 (Riley) 2:54. 5. York, Yeamans 2 (Figueira) 16:48. Penalties: Figueira YRK (holding) 8:57, Peters LAK cross checking) 11:59, Browne YRK (slashing) 13:06, D. Massie LAK (high sticking) 17:42.
GAME DATA – SOG – York 9-11-14-34 Thunder Bay 17-6-16-39; Power plays (goals-chances) – York (1-3), Lakehead (0-5); Goaltenders – York Brendan Bonello, Lakehead: Blake Weyrick; A: 1,421.
