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Pronghorns score three straight to knock off Thunderwolves 4-2

Pre-season time to work out kinks, says Thunderwolves defenceman Jake Ringuette

THUNDER BAY -- The Lakehead Thunderwolves might want to try hitting that reset button again.

The Lethbridge Pronghorns scored three unanswered goals in the second and third period on Friday night and battled their way to a 4-2 win at Fort William Gardens, the Wolves pre-season debut in 2016-17.

Brandon Clowes scored a pair of goals for the visiting Pronghorns, playing their fifth non-conference game, including the equalizer at 7:52 of the second, the goal that started the Lethbridge comeback in earnest.

Brennen Dubchak and Jake Ringuette scored for Lakehead, each goal giving the Thunderwolves a short-lived one-up lead.

Better to get the kinks out in the pre-season, said Ringuette, a second-year defenceman paired with veteran Justin Sefton on the LU blue-line.

“I know they count toward your conference ranking and stuff like that, but they are still tune-up games,” said Ringuette, author of four OUA goals in his rookie campaign.

“It’s big for us to be able to get out here and play a couple of games before the season start so when the season starts we can go in on a roll and everybody’s feeling good and had a few games under our belts to get comfortable out there.

The team may have survived an injury scare, though coach Bill McDonald said it’s too soon to tell the prognosis for forward Billy Jenkins, who had to be helped off the ice after suffering a right ankle injury following a late third-period scrum.

“Apparently it’s not as bad as it looked. Other than that, I probably don’t have any answers. I probably won’t play him tomorrow,” was all McDonald could say.

The thought of losing his top rookie from a year ago was a frightening one, he added.

“Losing a guy like that, it makes your stomach turn,” McDonald said.

The Wolves, who last season missed the playoffs for the first time, had a strong start, Dubchak banging home the opening goal with about two minutes left in the first, the only goal of the period. Mitch Maxwell netted the equalizer 2:35 into the middle frame, but three minutes later the Wolves were back on top, Ringuette picking his spot on the power play and punching it past Garret Hughson, a four-year veteran of the major junior ranks.

The lead lasted about two minutes, when banged home a one-timer in front of LU goalie Devin Green. The Pronghorns took the lead for good when Torrin White eluded a Patrick Murphy check and outmaneuvered a sprawling Green at the 19:09 mark of the second.

Clowes iced it on the power play midway through the third.

“It was a game where I thought we were all right,” McDonald said. “I thought they outplayed us in the third period, and then when we did get our chances in the last five minutes we had open nets and they didn’t go in.

“The one goal or two goals that kind of hurt us, (Kelin Ainsworth) got beat on a foot race and then Murphy went for the big hit, missed the guy and they guy scored.”

The game got physical at times, Lakehead’s Linden Springer and Lethbridge’s Ayrton Nikkel exchanging blows in the third.

Discipline is something the Thunderwolves must continue to work on, Dubchak said.

“We can’t come out like that and take costly penalties,” he said. (Coach) has always harped on the fact that we’ve got to be physical, but to a certain extend so we’re not going in the box.”

The two teams will try it again on Saturday night. Puck drop is 7 p.m.

Follow Leith Dunick on Twitter: @LeithDunick



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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