When Mike Hammond gets hot, he gets very, very hot.
The heat was back on Friday night.
Hammond netted a hat trick in the Wolves second non-conference contest, but hadn’t scored since the five-point outing. He found his touch again in his latest return to Fort William Gardens, scoring three times and adding an assist to lead LU to a convincing 9-2 win over the visiting Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
"Yeah, I guess I'm just trying to work hard," the Victoria native said. "I got a lot of ice tonight. When you're working hard, it's going to pay off when you're playing with great players."
It was the fifth straight win for the Wolves (5-2-0), who regained sole possession of top spot in the OUA West, a point ahead of idle Western (4-0-1) and two up on Waterloo, who lost 5-2 to Brock.
"Five in a row is huge. We're just trying to build off of that. We're a great team and we're just going to keep pushing and going. We're feeling good right now," said Hammond.
It was Hammond’s second hat trick in front of the home crowd this season, counting non-conference play, and propelled the Wolves to just their first OUA win on home ice, in three tries.
LU coach Joel Scherban said the effort was great to see out of his first-year forward.
"That's two huge games at home. He's worked hard and had some chances on the road, but he's been a little bit snakebitten, so it's nice to see him come out and put the puck in the net and show that passion again," Scherban said.
Hammond kicked the offensive onslaught off 2:32 into the opening period, undressing Ridgeback defender Andrew Randazzo and pushing the puck between his opponent’s leg, freeing him to move in alone on goalie Jason Guy.
One deke and one backhand later and the Wolves, who had already missed on a Matt Caria breakaway in the opening minute, were well on their way to the win.
"I kind of blanked out there, didn't really know what was going on," said Hammond. "I just saw the d-man pinching up and the goalie dropped and I just went around him."
Caria, who leads the OUA in scoring with 14 points, doubled the lead at 14:18, then just 38 seconds later rookie Jake Carrick made it 3-0, cashing in an Andrew Wilkins rebound for his second of the campaign.
With all things going their way, the last thing LU coach Joel Scherban wanted was a sluggish start to the second, a period that’s proven to be the Wolves Achilles heel in recent seasons. But what Scherban wants, he doesn’t always get.
"I thought we came out and we were selfish starting the second," Scherban said. "We started cheating. We were on the wrong side. Instead of being on the defensive side, we were on the offensive side. We were trying to skate around players at the blue-line instead of pinning it deep.
"Our forwards weren't coming back and out-letting, so it was just a lot of selfish play. I think our guys just got caught up in the game. We had a lot of chances in the first period and they expected them to just keep coming and we can't do that."
With the Wolves playing back on their heels, the Ridgebacks finally showed some spark, capitalizing on their own renewed energy and Lakehead’s lack of it and snapped Alex Dupuis’s shutout bid when Brendan Wise connected six minutes into the middle frame.
The goal didn’t immediately reignite the Thunderwolves flame, but Hammond had the cure for that, beating Guy four minutes later on a nicely placed wrist shot as he shot down the left side of the rink.
Wilkins made it 5-1 on the power play at 13:09 of the second, then 68 seconds later Trevor Gamache netted a wraparound that chased Guy from the UOIT net in favour of Jeff Dawson.
Hammond completed his hat trick eight minutes into the third, roofing a shot into the Ridgeback nets. Ontario Tech’s Tony Rizzi and Lakehead’s Keith Grondin traded goals to make it 8-2, then Jason Grecica potted his first for the Wolves to wrap up the scoring with three minutes to go.
The goals weren’t the only excitement of the final frame. LU’s Danick Malouin and Ontario Tech’s Kody Musselman saw to that, dropping the gloves and giving fans something to cheer about in a match long since decided.
Both players face mandatory one-game suspensions and will miss Saturday’s rematch.
Claw marks: Grecica is sporting the No. 9, the first Wolves player to don the sweater since Jeff Richards graduated in 2007 ... Devin Welsh, who had five points in two wins over York a week ago, sat this one out because of a match penalty picked up in Saturday’s game ... Jadran Beljo, who missed five straight because of concussion-like symptoms, was back in the lineup and picked up three helpers ... Only 2,281 fans caught the game, with many likely choosing Game 7 of the World Series over hockey ... Injured forward Ryan McDonald (leg) said he thinks he'll be ready to return to the lineup next weekend.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Hammond 1 (Caria, Beljo) 2:28. 2. Lakehead, Caria 6 (Sergerie, Gamache) 14:18. 3. Lakehead, Carrick 2 (Wilkins, Quesnele) 14:56. Penalties: Woodcroft OIT (hooking) 4:22, De la Lande LAK (roughing) 8:00.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Ontario Tech, Wise 2 (Noyes, VanMoerkerke) 6:14. 5. Lakehead, Hammond 2 (Grecica, Quesnele) 10:20. 6. Lakehead, Wilkins 4 (Hammond, Beljo) 13:09 pp. 7. Lakehead, Gamache 6 (unassisted) 14:17. Penalties: Vatri OIT (tripping) 12:00, Beljo LAK (slashing) 15:45, Bench minor LAK (too many men, served by Grecica) 19:01.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. Lakehead, Hammond 3 (Beljo) 2:58 sh. 9. Ontario Tech, Rizzi 4 (Woodcroft, Noyes) 6:16. 10. Lakehead, Grondin 1 (Magill, Fillman) 8:33 pp. 11. Lakehead, Grecica 1 (Magill, Maunu) 17:02. Penalties: Sergerie LAK (hooking) 1:41, Pasztor (hooking) 6:52, Whelan UOIT (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct), Musselman UOIT (fighting, game misconduct), Caria LAK (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct), Malouin LAK (fighting, game misconduct) 11:14, VanMoerkerke UOIT (charging) 14:58.
GAME DATA – SOG – Ontario Tech 6-11-7-24, Lakehead 16-12-6-34; Power plays (goals-chances) – Ontario Tech (0-5) Lakehead (2-4); Goaltenders – Ontario Tech: Jason Guy (26 shots, 20 saves), Jeff Dawson (14:17 second), Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,281.
