THUNDER BAY – It took 110 minutes of hockey but Dylan Butler put the Lakehead Thunderwolves one win away from a massive playoff upset.
The senior forward broke a stalemate at 10:07 of the third overtime period, clinching the seventh-seeded Thunderwolves a 3-2 home win over the second-seeded York Lions in Game 1 of their best-of-three OUA West Division quarterfinal series on Thursday night.
“It was near the end of a shift so Scott (Gall) dumped it in. He had a little bit of a breakaway there and it went behind the net,” Butler said.
“I was just a little tired so I was trying to be the third guy high in case something popped out and it popped right into the slot for me and I was able to bury it.”
Taking the first game of the series – and the only one to be played on Fort William Gardens ice – was virtually a must for the Thunderwolves to have any possibility of advancing.
“Our goal coming into this series was to win the first one at home,” goalie Nic Renyard said. “We’re going to have to ride the momentum and finish it off.”
York had won 10 straight head-to-head matchups against Lakehead, including a first-round playoff sweep last year.
Getting the monkey – or in this case lion – off their backs only makes the marathon win sweeter, head coach Bill McDonald said.
“It’s big time,” McDonald said. “To do what we did and not lose faith through the whole thing, we had a rough start and kinda lost a guy right off the bat in the first two minutes. We kept at it and kept at it.”
The Lions drew first blood just 39 seconds into the contest when Josh LaFrance beat Renyard, converting a centring pass.
“It’s obviously not how you want to start it and not how I visualized it but my mentality all year has been next shot, make sure I stop the next one,” Renyard said. “That’s how I approached it and forgot about it almost instantly. I just wanted to give the team a chance.”
The Thunderwolves answered back before the end of the period, with Sam Schutt capitalizing on a power play chance by netting a loose puck in front of the goal.
The Lions retook the lead early in the middle frame with Reid Jackman deflecting a power play point shot through a crowd to elude Renyard.
That lead stood until the opening minutes of the third period. E.J. Faust, who was moved up to the top line, finished a goal mouth scramble with the equalizer.
The contest, particularly in extra time, came down to a battle between goaltending counterparts Renyard and Shields. The netminders faced a combined 127 shots, with Renyard turning aside 49 and Shields making 73 saves.
“I think it was a good duel,” Renyard said. “I saw him make a number of nice saves and I just thought that I have to do better. I have to win my matchup.”
The first 20 minutes of overtime featured fast-paced, high energy play with Renyard making a pair of clutch saves on two separate high-quality chances for Adam Marsh while Shields replied with a pair of game-saving denials on Butler attempts.
The third time, in the third extra period, was ultimately the charm for Butler with the winning goal coming nearly four-and-a-half hours after opening puck drop.
The series swings to Toronto for the second, and if necessary, third games on Saturday and Sunday.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do yet,” McDonald said. “We can savour this one for about an hour and we’ve got another two coming up.”
Claw marks: Lakehead had dropped their three previous meetings with the Lions this season…Wolves forward Billy Jenkins did not play with an undisclosed injury…The game was the third-longest in Lakehead program history and second longest at the Gardens, just six seconds shy of the Wolves-Lions battle in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series in 2004.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. York, LaFrance 1 (Jackman, Feser) 0:39. 2. Lakehead, Schutt 1 (Del Paggio, Valiquette) 10:37 pp. Penalties: Campbell YRK (high-sticking, goaltender interference) 5:57; Alexander LAK (hooking) 6:48; Bean YRK (cross-checking) 9:19.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. York, Jackman 1 (Bean, Sheppard) 4:31 pp. Penalties: Leitch LAK (goaltender interference) 4:18; Jackman YRK (high-sticking) 5:00; Campbell YRK, Ringuette LAK (roughing after the whistle) 8:02; Messenger YRK (tripping) 9:18; Renyard LAK (delay of game) 11:22; Zottl YRK (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), Valiquette LAK (roughing) 18:30.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Lakehead, Faust 1 (Schutt) 1:52. Penalties: None.
FIRST OVERTIME
Scoring: None. Penalties: None.
SECOND OVERTIME
Scoring: None. Penalties: Bench minor YRK (too many men) 19:13
THIRD OVERTIME
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, Butler 1 (Dubchak, Gall) 10:07. Penalties: None.
