Chemistry revealed

Thunderwolves head coach Joel Scherban may have found the right combination for a scoring line Friday night.

The Thunderwolves skated to a 6-0 victory over their non-conference opponent the Ottawa Gee Gees Friday night at the Fort William Gardens. While the Wolves as a whole shutdown the Gee Gees for three periods, sending a total of 37 shots toward their opponent’s net, it was the forward line of Adam Sergerie, Matt Caria and Ryan McDonald that proved lethal.

The three players concluded the game with 11 points between them.

"We thought about that all training camp," Scherban said about the creation of the McDonald, Sergerie, Caria line. "Coming into training camp I thought they would be a great line. Obviously we didn’t know if (Caria) was coming back, but as soon as he got back we put them together and they seemed to have chemistry right away."

It’s a line that didn’t come together last season. But within this season’s first minute it proved to be a point-producing combination.

McDonald netted the team’s first goal 52 seconds into the first period against the Gee Gees, with both linemates Caria and Sergerie picking up assists. The line went on to produce the team’s third, fifth and sixth goals of the game.

"I think they compliment each other," Scherban said. "Sergerie is such a smart player and strong on the puck, he makes really good puck decisions, (Caria’s) skill kind of takes over and then we have (McDonald) who is a great goal scorer."

The victory wasn’t perfect. Scherban said he noticed the team’s decision making at times wasn’t where it should be, which allowed for a number of turnovers and players reacting slower than they should have.

The wolves also ran into disciplinary issues in parts of the first and second periods. Both teams found themselves with numerous penalties and misconducts for post-whistle tussles.

"We talked about how it is unacceptable for our guys to be playing like that," Scherban said about the conversation he had with the team between a scrappy second period and a more disciplined third. "I don’t want to see our guys mouthing off on the ice. That’s not the team we are going to be. We are not going to be the kind of team that takes penalties after the whistle."

Goaltender Alex Dupuis left the game with the shutout victory, despite the 27-shot effort of the Gee Gees. Dupuis was quick to forward credit to the team’s defensive play for the shutout.

"We played really well defensively," he said. "Everyone backchecked hard, they let me see all the shots, when there were rebounds they cleared them. Overall we just played really well defensively.

The coaching staff had plans to put Dupuis in net for the first game against the Gee Gees before allowing Kyle Moir to take the ice in the second game the next night. Scherban said after Friday’s game that the plan would remain unchanged despite the shutout performance.

"I thought (Dupuis) played really well tonight," he said. "Moir will play tomorrow and we expect a great game out of him as well. We are fortunate we have two great goalies that we are confident in right now."

The Thunderwolves will play their second game against the Ottawa Gee Gees, another non-conference battle, at the Fort William Gardens Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Claw marks: Former LU forward Tobias Whelan on Friday was released by the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans. Whelan will spend his sophomore season in the pros with the Central Hockey League's Allen Americans, where he had 40 points in his rookie campaign ... Former Thunderwolves goalie Chris Whitley is still trying out for the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters. He played on Friday during an intersquad scrimmage. Whitley, who joined Whelan with Allen last season, played one game for the Monsters in 2009-10.