THUNDER BAY – It was a worst-case scenario kind of weekend.
Back-to-back 5-2 home-ice losses to the surging Laurier Golden Hawks could prove costly for the Lakehead Thunderwolves, who have all but exhausted any cushion they had in the OUA West and have to turn things around in a hurry down the stretch.
The loss, powered by four-point performances from Laurier forwards Christian Mroczkowki and Will Cook, was the eighth in 10 games for Lakehead and left them in a four-way tie for fifth with six games to go – but only one point ahead of ninth-place Windsor, who are currently sitting on the outside looking in at the playoff race.
It’s time to get going, said defenceman Patrick Murphy.
“It’s crazy tight right now, so every game at this point is like a playoff game. It’s must-win. We would really have liked to have these two this weekend, but we’ll just have to regroup and try to go get two wins in Brock next weekend,” Murphy said.
“It’s not something we planned on doing, it’s not something we are happy about either. I think at the end of the day it comes down to ourselves being prepared properly, executing plays the way we’re supposed to and sticking to the systems properly.”
Fifth-year senior Dylan Butler said it was a couple of small breakdowns that proved costly in both games.
Unfortunately, he said, it’s becoming a habit during their recent run of bad results.
“We just feel like we outplay teams, but we break down and just a little mental error just seems to always end up in the back of our net,” Butler said.
“I don’t know if it’s bounces or what, but we have to limit those to nothing.”
Lakehead outshot the Golden Hawks 36-26, but only solved Laurier goaltender Olivier Lafreniere twice. Cooper Leitch potted his sixth of the year at 16:29 of the first, the lone goal of the period. The 1-0 lead didn’t last long once the second period begun, Cook one-timing a quick shot past Devin Green, the Golden Hawks converting on a rare 4-on-1 opportunity.
Josh Laframboise answered back 23 seconds later, putting Lakehead up 2-1, but the Wolves found penalty trouble later in the period and it cost them.
Jake Henderson scored for the second straight night with two seconds left with the man advantage, connecting on a second chance in front of Green to tie the game 2-2. Then, with Leitch and Chase Stewart sent off simultaneously, the Golden Hawks scored their second power-play goal of the night at 16:03, Mroczkowski finding the back of the net, the goal proving to be the game-winner.
Cook opened a two-goal advantage four minutes into the third and Danny Hanlon finished things off, scoring into the empty net with 2:36 to go.
“Obviously with them four points back, we wanted to get a couple wins and some points for sure. It didn’t end up the way we wanted, so obviously we’re in a lot tougher spot. But we’ll get back to work this week, six games remaining,” said first-year coach Andrew Wilkins, who blamed special teams in the second period.
Lakehead ended the second on a 5-on-3 of their own, but couldn’t capitalize on either side of the break.
“I thought their special teams were better.”
While the Wolves weren’t happy with the results, Laurier coach and Thunder Bay native Greg Puhalski was thrilled.
“For us, much-needed wins,” he said. “Tonight it was a lot closer game territorially than last night. I thought Lakehead played a good game and the score is by no means indicative of the way the game was played. I could easily have gone Lakehead’s way.
The two teams ended the weekend with identical 10-11-1 records.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Leitch 4 (Wolframe, McDonald) 16:29. Penalties: None
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Laurier, Cook 7 (Mroczkowski, Lafreniere) 0:31. 3. Lakehead, Laframboise 6 (Kuczek, Del Paggio) 0:54. 4. Laurier, Henderson 4 (Sorrentino, MacLean) 6:12. 5. Laurier, Mroczkowski 5 (Jenkins, Cook) 16:03 pp. Penalties: King LAK (kneeing) 4:13, Stewart LAK (interference), Leitch LAK (roughing) 15:01, Henderson LAU (unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:11, Hetherington LAU (cross checking) 19:03, Henderson LAU (checking to the head, misconduct) 19:24
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Laurier, Cook 8 (Mroczkowski, Hanlon) 4:03. 7. Lakehead, Hanlon (Mroczkowski, Cook) 17:24 en. Penalties: Wesley-Chisel LAK (tripping) 4:59.
GAME DATA – SOG – Laurier 13-8-5-26, Lakehead 13-12-11-36; Power plays (goals-chances) – Laurier (2-4), Lakehead (0-3); Goaltenders – Laurier: Olivier Lafreniere, Lakehead: Devin Green; A: 1,954.
