When Mike Busniuk wasn’t sure who to use in Friday’s shootout, he went to an unusual source for the answer.
After blowing a 3-0 third period lead, and forced to wait an extra half hour after a Kalvin Sagert blast shattered the glass behind Guelph goalie Brandon Maxwell with 5.7 seconds left in overtime, the Lakehead Thunderwolves interim bench boss took the advice of goalie coach Colin Zulianello and turned to netminder Alex Dupuis for advice.
“(Colin) asked who are the hardest guys to stop? The first one he said was (Keith) Grondin and the second one he said was (Luke) Judson and the third one is (Mike) Hammond. So it wasn’t even the coaches’ choice, it was our goaltender’s choice. And he picked them right,” said Busniuk, happy to walk away with the 4-3 win against a key division rival.
Dupuis was bang on – and perfect in the shootout himself, stopping Jon-Thomas MacDonald and Nicklas Huard.
Grondin scored first, whistling the puck past Guelph goalie and Florida native Brandon Maxwell, a one-time member of the United States national development program. Judson, who scored earlier and made a great defensive play late in the third, swiping a loose puck off the LU goal line that was headed for pay dirt, also beat Maxwell cleanly to secure the win.
“It’s definitely not ideal, giving up a three-goal lead and with the glass breaking,” said Judson, who leads Lakehead (10-5-2) with 11 goals. But we’re happy getting the two points. If we knew we were getting the two points at the start of the night, we’d be happy.”
The key to his game-clinching goal was the element of surprise, he added.
“I know a few guys on their team and they knew they were shooting 10 minutes before, 15 minutes before. But they waited until right before it was my turn to shoot to let me know. So I think that was beneficial so I wasn’t overthinking it too much. I just went in and looked for an opening,” Judson said.
The Emo, Ont. native was credited with the game’s opening goal after a Jay Gilbert blast from the point was redirected in front. Fourth-liner Ryan Magill, who also had an assist, completed a pretty feed from Victor Anilane, scored early in the second to make it 2-0, and less than four minutes later, at 8:14, Mike Quesnele got a bit lucky, his sharp angle shot from the side of the net beating Maxwell for the 3-0 lead.
It’s a goal Busniuk almost didn’t want to see scored.
“We’ve got that curse. I told the guys inside the dressing room right now, whoever has an open net and you’re going to get the third goal to make it 3-0, don’t score,” Busniuk joked. “That seems to be our curse.”
The lead wouldn’t last long once the third period rolled along at Fort William Gardens, at least not before the final buzzer sounded.
MacDonald ripped one from the hash marks 83 seconds into the frame that beat Dupuis on the power play and then with 6:06 to play in regulation, again up a man, Phillip Teri drove one from the top of the circle to cut the LU lead to one.
Guelph (11-6-2) tied the game with 27.7 seconds left and Maxwell on the bench for an extra attacker, Brett Appio netting the equalizer to send the game to OT.
Fourth-place Lakehead finished the game on the power play, but couldn’t solve Maxwell, who came into the game with a sparkling 1.86 goals against average for the Gryphons.
The two sides will do it all over again on Saturday night.
Claw marks: Magill fell hard into the end boards, left the game early despite playing after the fall, and did not come out to salute the crowd after being named the game’s second star … Trevor Gamache served the first game of a two-game suspension for a pre-Christmas fight and won’t play Saturday night … Thunder Bay’s Justin Gvora was held off the score sheet for the Gryphons ... Matt Caria had a goal waved off in the first, the officials saying they blew the whistle before the puck crossed the line.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Judson 11 (Gilbert) 18:37 pp. Penalties: Martine GUE (cross checking) 14:25, Kusy GUE (holding) 17:32
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Lakehead, Magill (Anilane, Grecica) 4:29. 3. Lakehead, Quesnele (Magill, Grecica) 8:14. Penalties: Martine GUE (slashing) 5:35, Carrick LAK (high sticking), Appio GUE (boarding) 15:24, Hammond LAK (cross checking) 17:20.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Guelph, MacDonald (Bathgate, Brousard) 1:23. 5. Guelph, Teri (Odam, Peroff) 13:54 pp. 6. Guelph Appio (MacDonald) 19:32. Penalties: Caria LAK (cross checking) 5:49, Bathgate GUE (misconduct) 6:36, Grondin LAK (tripping), Quesnele LAK, Mock GUE (unsportsmanlike conduct) 12:13.
OVERTIME
Scoring: None. Penalties: Huard GUE (cross checking) 3:33.
GAME DATA – SOG – Guelph 8-7-17-5-37, Lakehead 14-9-4-4-31; Power plays (goals-chances) – Guelph (1-3), Lakehead (1-4); Goaltenders – Guelph: Brandon Maxwell, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,567.
SHOOTOUT:
Guelph: MacDonald (miss)
Lakehead: Grondin (goal)
Guelph: Huard (miss)
Lakehead: Judson (scores)
