THUNDER BAY – The York Lions have had the Lakehead Thunderwolves number since 2014.
On Friday night they scored twice in the third to even the match, then Shayne Rover won it in the final minute of overtime as the Lions roared back to win their ninth straight meeting between the two teams, taking the Fort William Gardens match 5-4.
The loss stretched the Thunderwolves winless streak to five games, tied for sixth in the OUA West with Western with a 10-8-4 record.
With the losses starting to mount, the recent slide is starting to weigh on the team, said first-year forward Cooper Leitch, who scored twice on the night to up his regular-season total to five goals.
“That’s not the way you want to finish a game at all,” said Leitch. “I thought the team played pretty well. We had a tough start, but we kind of caught the wave and battled back. But it was not the result we wanted.”
Coach Bill McDonald was a little more pointed about the defeat.
“It sucks,” he said.
“Every time we play these guys it’s the same thing. They’re a really good team. I thought we were all right in the first. I thought we were good in the second and not so good in the third. They kept coming and we didn’t match it. I thought we were a little bit on our heels in the third – obviously when you give up the two-goal lead.”
Defenceman-turned-forward Jonathon Masters, who had a pair of helpers after being moved up front to allow Tyler Anton to ease his way back in the Thunderwolves lineup, called it a disappointing result.
“I thought we were playing pretty well coming into the third period. But in the third period they came out flying and we came out the opposite,” the Thunder Bay native said.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can pick back up where we started this game and not the way we ended it.”
Masters said the Wolves just let off the gas a little too early.
“We started playing a little more defensively than offensively and obviously we should have just kept going and kept the foot on the pedal,” he said.
Sam Schutt got the offensive ball rolling at the 4:12 mark of the first, beating York goalie Mack Shield on the power play.
Nova Scotia’s Kyle Campbell evened things up, also on the power play, at 10:37, putting the puck past Nic Renyard in the LU net.
But the game didn’t stay tied for long.
Nine seconds later Leitch had the Thunderwolves out in front again. Then just 34 seconds after that Scott Gall took a feed from Dylan Butler – a game-time decision with a lower-body injury – and Lakehead took a 3-1 lead into the intermission.
Scott Feser cut the Lions deficit in half 33 seconds into the second, but 17 seconds later Leitch undressed Shields with a nasty deke to the goaltender’s left, restoring the Wolves two-goal lead.
The Lions kept battling.
Reid Jackman fired a quick snap shot from the right circle four minutes into the third to make it 4-3 and the Lions (15-8-1), who out-shot Lakehead 16-4 in the final period of regulation, got the equalizer off the stick of fourth-year forward Colton Vannucci at the 9:11 mark.
Both teams had chances as the third wound down. Masters was stopped on a breakaway, while Vannucci and the Lions had a goal waved off.
Lakehead had the best chance early in OT, Brennen Dubchak failing to score with the puck at Shields’ feet and a 4-on-3 power play advantage, while Stover put it away for the Lions with 38 seconds in the extra frame.
The two teams play again on Saturday night.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Schutt 4 (Murphy, Jenkins) 4:12 pp. 2. York Campbell 6 (Vannucci, Mowbray) 10:37 pp. 3. Lakehead, Leitch 4 (Fryer, Masters) 10:46. 4. Lakehead, Gall 9 (Butler) 11:20. Penalties: Campbell YRK (hooking) 2:27, Sheppard (cross checking) 4:30, Alexander LAK (cross checking) 8:04, A. McDonald LAK (tripping) 9:50.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. York, Feser 9 (Bean, Rover) 0:33. 6. Lakehead, Leitch 5 (Valiquette, Masters) 0:50. Penalties: Donnelly LAK (slashing) 15:56, Sheppard YRK (tripping) 17:21.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. York, Jackman 7 (Messenger, Mowbray) 3:48. 8. York, Vannucci 9 (Campbell, Rover) 9:11. Penalties: Campbell YRK (high sticking) 12:22.
OVERTIME
Scoring: 9. Rover 1 (Messenger) 4:22. Penalties: Vannucci YRK (cross checking) 1:07.
GAME DATA – SOG – York 15-9-16-2-42, Lakehead 12-15-4-3-34; Power plays (goals-chances) – York (1-3), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – York: Mack Shields, Lakehead: Nick Renyard; A: 2,050.
