THUNDER BAY – It's do or die time for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Ryerson Rams poured in three goals in the first period of Wednesday night's OUA West best-of-three men's hockey quarterfinal at Fort William Gardens and went on to down the Wolves 4-1 to take a commanding 1-0 series lead.
The Rams will have two chances to wrap up the opening-round set, the first coming on Saturday night. Game 3, if necessary, is slated for Sunday. Both games will be played on Ryerson's home ice.
It's a daunting task ahead of them, said Wolves forward Tomas Soustal, who scored the home side's lone goal of the contest, 6:55 into the middle stanza.
The slow start was just too much to overcome.
“I think we're just a little afraid to play, to be honest with you. From the second and even toward the last five minutes of the first, I thought we got way better. After that it was a 1-1 game,” said Soustal, playing in his first OUA playoff game, after the Wolves missed out on the post-season in 2018-19.
“We were just afraid and had too much respect for them. We knew coming in they are a very skilled team, but I think we just gave them too much respect.”
It was those first 15 minutes that hurt the most.
The Rams, who finished in second place in the division with a 20-5-3 record, struck first, and then the floodgates appeared to open.
Patrick Fellows was the first to strike, beating Brock Aiken at 10:28 of the opening period. Two minutes later defenceman Andrew Mullen doubled the Ryerson lead and then at 16:35 the Rams found themselves up 3-0. second-year forward Jacob Kamps joining the scoring parade.
The three players had two goals combined all season long, both belonging to Fellows.
That's the type of effort it takes to win playoff games, said Ryerson coach Johnny Duco.
“I thought we came out with a real fast start there and two big goals from our fourth line. Anytime you're getting that depth scoring from different guys in the lineup, it's always important this time of the year,” Duco said.
Lakehead had a great chance to cut into the Rams lead before the first came to a close, but blue-liner Callum Fryer, who jumped into the rush, was tripped up crossing in front of Ryerson goaltender Garrett Forrest who made a pad save on the delayed penalty call.
Soustal finally got the Wolves on the board 6:55 into the second, burying a crisp pass from Jordan King to pull Lakehead within a pair.
The offence went silent from that point on.
Soustal and Williams had a a decent chance on a 2-on-1 with five mintues to go in the second, but couldn't connect.
Ryerson's Hayden McCool beat Aiken, who made 40 stops, early in the third, but was stymied by the goal poast. The Rams did managed to put it past him one more time, Matthew Mistele handed the puck deep in LU territory off a Fryer giveaway that left the Ryerson sniper alone on Aiken.
He didn't miss.
Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins said the team knows its back is against the wall.
“It's a tall task, for sure. I think our team has responded well this year against adversity when we've needed to come up with points, come up with wins. So we'll stick to it. We're in a position that it's what we do and how we can fix what we do,” Wilkins said.
“It's not that they came out and completely dominated us. They're a great team, don't get me wrong, but I think we can handle what we can handle a little bit better and stick to executing the right way.”
Wilkins said Aiken, subbing for an injured Nic Renyard, will be back in net in Game 2.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Ryerson, Fellows 1 (Barwell, Harland) 10:28. 2. Ryerson,, Mullen 1 (Walsh, Mistele) 12:34. 3. Ryerson, Kamps 1 (Glover) 16:35. Penalties: Nosella RYE (boarding) 2:02, Soustal LAK (slashing) 8:33, Santos RYE (cross checking) 19:17.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Lakehead, Soustal 1 (Auger, King) 6:55. Penalties: Walsh RYE (hooking) 9:52, Mullen RYE (holding) 13:30, Auger LAK (hooking, roughing), Del Paggio LAK (slashing), Pallani RYE (roughing, unsporsmanlike conduct) 13:59, Laframboise LAK (interference) 19:40.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Ryerson, Mistele (Santos) 12:36. Penalties: Gall LAK (check to the head, game misconduct, served by McKitrick) 16:09.
GAME DATA – SOG – Ryerson 16-13-14-43, Lakehead 9-13-7-29; Power plays (goals-chances) – Ryerson (0-3), Lakehead (0-3); Goaltenders – Ryerson: Garrett Forrest, Lakehead: Brock Aiken; A: 1,841.
