Luke Judson returned to Fort William Gardens with a bang.
The former Thunder Bay Bearcat, who spent the past five seasons with the OHL’s Belleville Bulls, netted a hat trick Saturday night to lead the Lakehead Thunderwolves to a series split-salvaging 6-2 win over the Ottawa Gee Gees at Fort William Gardens, his first three goals in an LU uniform.
“The first game was a little slow for me, the line had to get used to each other a little bit and I had to get used to the pace out there.
"The guys are a little stronger, a little faster than the OHL. So it’s nice to come through in the second game,” said Judson, a 21-year-old Emo, Ont. native who scored on a nifty up-ice feed from linemate Matt Caria less than two minutes into the game, netted the winner on the power play 1:40 into the second and tallied again on a beautiful give-and-go break with Caria with seven minutes to go.
With Mike Hammond filling out the first-line trio, it appears chemistry is a subject they're well-versed in, despite taking two games to fully develop.
“Just as with anyone, sometimes it doesn’t come right away and you’ve got to get used to people’s tendencies, where they’re going to be at certain times. We’re definitely getting more comfortable,” Judson said.
Not surprisingly, LU coach Joel Scherban has no plans to break up the threesome.
“I think for now, we probably will (stick with them),” he said, uttering the understatement of the non-conference season to date.
Scherban has high hopes for a lot of his young players, and several delivered in Saturday’s win. Carson Dubchak and defenceman Jay Gilbert, with a hard wrist shot from the slot late in the third, both scored their first goals with their new team.
And Judson’s game pretty much speaks for itself.
“He came out and really got his legs under him last night and played very well tonight,” Scherban said.
Keith Grondin netted LU’s other marker, his second goal in two outings.
But the Wolves game was far from perfect.
James DeLory made an early exit after dropping his gloves and throwing punches, charged with fighting, instigating and ultimately leaving Lakehead shorthanded for the first nine minutes of the second period. The Wolves killed off the lengthy penalty, helped in part by Ottawa’s own lack of discipline.
In the third period defenceman Mike Quesnele, who has committed to stay out of the box this season, narrowly missed being tossed for fighting, thankful the officials chose instead to hand him a 10-minute misconduct after a third-period dust-up with Ottawa's Craig Moore.
Scherban wasn’t too dismayed, though.
“We want our guys to compete hard and sometimes that’s the result,” Scherban said, faced with an automatic one-game suspension to DeLory.
Ottawa’s Jean-Bernard Voyer answered Judson’s first on the power play at 2:07 of the opening period, with Mathieu Oullette knotting the score again at 5:07 of the second.
Jeff Bosch made 25 saves to pick up the win. Robin Billingham stopped just 16 of 22 shots directed at the Ottawa net.
Claw marks: Jake Carrick, Danick Malouin and Ryan Magill were the healthy scratches for Lakehead. Riley McIntosh and Trevor Gamache were still out nursing injuries. Attendance was 2,505.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring. Lakehead, Judson (Caria, Sagert) 1:31. 2. Ottawa, Voyer (Blunden, Jalbert) 2:07 pp. 3. Lakehead, Grondin (Frazee, Quesnele) 19:34. Penalties: Gilbert LAK (tripping) 3:55, Frazee LAK (roughing) 7:52, Dubchak LAK (boarding) 10:56, Foucher OTT (slashing) 13:25, Foucher OTT (roughing) 17:48.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Ottawa, Oullette (Jalbert) 5:31 pp. Penalties: DeLory LAK (slashing, instigating, fighting major, game misconduct) 0:25, Larocque-Marcoux OTT (misconduct), Dubchak LAK (misconduct) 2:44, Fournier OTT (slashing) 5:10, Krahenbil OTT () 6:02, Leduc OTT (roughing after the whistle), Latraverse OTT (slashing), Judson (roughing after the whistle 7:16, Bench minor LAK (too many men) 10:13.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, Judson (Hammond, Quesnele) 1:40 pp. 6. Lakehead, Dubchak (Grecica, Anilane) 11:38. 7. Lakehead, Judson (Caria) 13:01. 8. Lakehead, Gilbert (Anilane, Dubchak) 18:59. Penalties: Voyer OTT (tripping) 0:19. Judson LAK (interference) 4:02. Quesnele LAK (misconduct), Moore OTT (roughing, misconduct) 7:52, Dubchak LAK (roughing) 14:00.
GAME DATA – SOG – Ottawa 15-5-7-27, Lakehead 4-9-9-22; Power plays (goals-chances) – Ottawa (2-7), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – Ottawa: Robin Billingham, Lakehead: Jeff Bosch; A: 2,505.
