The Lakehead Thunderwolves were chucking monkeys off their back left and right on Friday night.
First and foremost they finally solved the Western Mustangs, a team that had given them fits for six straight starts. The 3-2 victory was their first over their OUA West archrival since March 2010 when they knocked Western out of the post-season in the conference final.
For the players, it was their first test on Fort William Gardens ice since they helped orchestrate the ouster of ex-coach Joel Scherban, let go by team and school officials for reasons the Thunderwolves brass have yet to divulge.
“That’s a tough team over there. They’ve been giving us troubles obviously the last couple of years and we knew they were going to be an even tougher team this year,” said assistant captain Kalvin Sagert, whose power-play wrist shot through traffic early in the third proved to be the winner.
“We got out to that big 3-0 lead and we kind of let them crawl back there, but it’s something to learn and we’ve got to take it going forward. It was a big win.”
Sagert, a fifth-year veteran, acknowledged the internal changes on the team were on the players’ minds.
“It’s good to be back home and good to have the fans behind us and it was fun playing tonight,” he said. “Yeah, what’s done is done. It’s obviously happened, but we have to keep moving forward and it’s going to be a huge test again tomorrow that we have to be prepared for.”
It was also interim coach Mike Busniuk’s first chance to show the home fans what his brand of hockey might look like as he tries to keep the Wolves out in front in what will likely be a heated divisional race.
It tested his mettle, he said.
“They gave us a fit too, in the last period,” said Busniuk, the former NHLer and ex-American Hockey League assistant coach who served two seasons as Scherban’s lead assistant.
“It was a very emotional game. As soon as they got the first goal, my heart rate went up to about 200 and I said, here we go again.”
But this isn’t the same Mustangs squad that dominated the Thunderwolves a season ago, shutting them out three times and winning all four meetings.
Gone are stars Kevin Baker and Keaton Turkiewicz, the leading scorer in the nation, and a host of other familiar faces, including long-time coach Clarke Singer, off on a year-long sabbatical. Still, they're not to be taken lightly.
“They’re 2-3 now, but they’re a good hockey team and they showed us that in the third period. They had us backing up all the time,” Busniuk said.
It was a scoreless first that saw the Mustangs out-shoot the Wolves by a 12-9 count, but it was the first-place Wolves (5-1-1) who struck first when Luke Judson pounded home his fifth of the year, pouncing on a Matt Caria rebound and planting the puck behind goalie Josh Unice for the 1-0 lead at 8:53 of the second.
It was a period that started in the Mustangs favour, with a pair of Thunderwolves in the penalty box for a minute-long two-man disadvantage that goal Alex Dupuis deftly helped them survive with his stellar play between the pipes.
Then, with just five seconds to play in the period captain Adam Sergerie took a nifty feed from Trevor Gamache and pounded a backhand home that made it 2-0 after 40 minutes.
Tyler Peters cut the LU lead to two at 12:51 of the third, then with 2:47 to go in regulation Matt Marantz beat Dupuis short-side to make it a one-goal difference. But the Mustangs couldn’t pull the trigger a third time, even with Unice on the bench in favour of an extra attacker and had to settle for a third straight defeat.
“I think we’ve played better than our record indicates, but at the end of the year it comes down to wins and losses,” Power said, admitting being below .500 is unfamiliar territory for the Mustangs.
“Yeah it is, but we knew it was going to be a process this year. We have eight new guys in our lineup. We got off to a 2-0 start and we lost three in a row. If we had a few more wins before we went on a three-game losing streak, it wouldn’t be as noticeable. But unfortunately it’s at the start of the year.”
Claw marks: Third-string goalie Jordan George was the back-up goalie for the Thunderwolves, with Jeff Bosch sidelined due to injury … Western’s back-up was Marc Nother, the ex-Thunder Bay North Stars goaltender … Also out of the lineup for LU were Jay Gilbert, Jason Grecica, Mitch Fillman, Brennan Menard, Victor Anilane and Danick Malouin … The Wolves were 2-4 on the power play, the Mustangs 0-4.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Corrente WES (tripping) 9:32, DeCoste WES (slashing) 14:49, Sergerie LAK (tripping) 19:00, Quesnele LAK (cross checking), Harnden WES (high sticking) 19:09, Frazee LAK (cross checking) 19:17.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Judson 5 (Caria) 8:53. 2. Lakehead, Sergerie 2 (Gamache, Frazee) 19:55 pp. Penalties: DeCoste WES (high sticking), Gamache LAK (roughing) 9:36, Peters WES (cross checking), Judson LAK (roughing) 12:33, Harnden WES (high sticking), Sergerie LAK (cross checking) 13:22, Greenside WES (tripping) 18:04.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Lakehead, Sagert 1 (Sergerie) 2:58 pp. 4. Western, Peters 2 (Stoykewych) 12:51. 5. Western, Marantz (DeCoste) 17:13. Penalties: Gaskin WES (cross checking) 1:28, Grondin LAK (boarding) 6:23, Judson LAK (hookin) 10:17.
GAME DATA – SOG – Western 12-11-9-32, Lakehead 9-10-10-29; Power plays (goals-assists) – Western (0-4), Lakehead (2-4); Goaltenders – Western: Josh Unice, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 3,036.
