Make it six straight for the streaking Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey squad.
The No. 8 team in the nation continued its winning ways Friday night, edging the Concordia Stingers -- playing their first ever game at Fort William Gardens -- 4-3 in a shootout.
Mike Hammond scored the lone goal of the shootout, blasting a wrist shot past Antonio Mastropietro to earn the victory over the Stingers (2-4-3).
“It was great,” said Hammond, who leads the Thunderwolves (8-1-0) with 13 points in OUA play.
“I haven’t scored too many shootout goals in my career, so it’s good to get that one, get the monkey off my back.”
It might not have been the way the Wolves wanted to win, playing a sub-.500 team. But as long as they learned from it, no harm, no foul, said Hammond.
“It definitely felt like it wasn’t one of our stronger games, but we found a way to win. Obviously that shouldn’t have gone to overtime, I don’t feel, but we’ve just got to learn from it, move on tomorrow and be twice as ready to go,” he said.
Lakehead coach Bill McDonald said it was good to get the two points and a share of top spot in the OUA West, but his team can’t afford to have off nights like this going forward. The competition is only going to get tougher in the second half.
“We were a little tentative in the beginning,” he said, praising the third and fourth lines for their play.
“We could have used a little more from the top two lines, I thought.”
Well, maybe don't paint Cody Alcock with that same brush.
The first-year forward twice gave the Wolves a one-goal lead. In the first he connected at 8:15, just 37 seconds after Chris de la Lande had tied the game 1-1. The goal stood until the 10:07 mark of the third, when Ben Dubois one-timed a shot from the point that skipped past LU goalie Justin McDonald, the direct result of a Thuderwolves giveaway in the defensive zone.
Three minutes later Alcock did it again, going in alone on Mastropietro, cutting to his right and depositing a backhander into the net, his team-leading eighth goal of the campaign.
But the Stingers had the answer with 3:01 to play when Taylor Lambke deflected an Alex MacDonald shot from the point, tying the game and sending it to overtime deadlocked at three.
“We had a lot of miscues in our own end,” Bill McDonald said. “We were trying to do too much.”
Overtime solved nothing, the Wolves outshooting the Stingers 4-0 in the extra frame.
Stingers Olivier Hinse, Dany Potvin and George Lovatsis were all turned aside in the shootout. Lakehead's Jack Carrick and Alcock were also stopped before Hammond’s shot found the back of the twine.
Claw marks: De la Lande's goal unleashed a torrent of teddy bears raining from the rafters. The Thunderwolves annual teddy bear toss landed 37 bags of the stuffed toys, which will be handed out to children in need ... Attendance was 3,011 ... The two teams will do it again on Saturday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game is LU's final home game before the holidays ... Stingers defenceman Adam Nugent-Hopkins is the brother of Edmonton Oilers star Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Concordia, O’Neil 2 (Bourret, Lovatsis) 3:48. 2. Lakehead, De la Lande 2 (Kaarela, Thompson) 7:38. 3. Lakehead, Alcock 7(Wilkins, Gamache) 8:15. Penalties: Potvin, CON, M. Quesnele LAK (roughing) 3:43, Carrick LAK (tripping) 3:58, Lambke CON (unsportsmanlike conduct) 10:33, Wilkins LAK (cross checking) 18:06, Blunden CON (hooking) 18:56.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Dubois CON (cross checking) 14:23, Bourret CON (roughing) 16:24, Ainsworth LAK (hooking) 18:14.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Concordia, Dubois 1 (Armstrong, Blunden) 10:07. 5. Lakehead, Alcock 8 (Fillman, Gamache) 13:17. 6. Concordia, Lambke 6 (A. MacDonald, Lovatsis) 16:59. Penalties: None.
OVERTIME
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: None.
SHOOTOUT
Concordia: Olivier Hinse (miss)
Lakehead: Jake Carrick (miss)
Concordia: Dany Potvin (miss)
Lakehead: Cody Alcock (miss)
Concordia: George Lovatsis (miss)
Lakehead: Mike Hammond (score)
GAME DATA – SOG – Concordia 10-11-13-0-34, Lakehead 14-11-9-4-38; Power plays (goals-chances) – Concordia (0-3), Lakehead (0-4); Goaltenders – Concordia: Antonio Mastropietro, Lakehead – Justin McDonald; A: 3,011.
