For seven minutes the Lakehead Thunderwolves were golden.
Staked to a 3-0 lead, thanks to a pair of Andrew Wilkins goals, they appeared destined to stop a disturbing trend of weekend splits that had reached an uncomfortable six straight series.
Then it all fell apart.
The Windsor Lancers (11-3-0), with all-star goalie Parker Van Buskirk banished to the bench after the LU outburst, scored six straight goals, three on the power-play, to vanquish the 9-5-2 Wolves 7-4 at Fort William Gardens.
Drew Palmer was the hero for the Lancers, scoring a hat trick, including a pair in the second period, a stanza that saw Lakehead draw 54 minutes in penalties and lose the services of Trevor Gamache and Thomas Frazee to game misconducts.
“Obviously a couple of our guys lost their composure,” said Busniuk, trying hard not to lay the blame on referee Nigel Black, who put the Lancers up two men on four separate occasions.
“This isn’t the right thing to do, but sometimes your temper gets the better of you. I’m not saying it’s the right thing. I’m saying they did the wrong thing. They shouldn’t have done this. It’s a team game.”
Busniuk, who took over the Wolves four games into the season after the players rebelled against former coach Joel Scherban, said the honeymoon has come to an end and players are going to made accountable for their actions on the ice from here on in.
“When a player takes a stupid penalty like that, he’s gonna sit. There’s no question. He’s just going to sit,” Busniuk said.
Frazee, whose two-handed slash in the third got him tossed, will face a one-game suspension to be served when OUA play begins in January. The Wolves plan to appeal Gamache’s fighting major, contending it was merely roughing, while Carson Dubchak’s game misconduct was reversed, meaning he won’t miss any time.
Wilkins said the Wolves can't afford to give a team like Windsor that many opportunities, especially after the start they had.
Like his coach, the LU assistant captain said it's got to be reversed and in a hurry.
"It's hard to say right now, but it's definitely something that's unacceptable and it just can't happen. You don't win games like that. You don't win playoff rounds like that. So it's something that's got to change over the break, and I'm sure it will," Wilkins said.
He's not sure why things disintigrated so quickly.
"It's the start you want. Two goals quickly right back at us turned things around and it's definitely frustrating. We've got to take advantage of strong starts like that," he said, adding Busniuk urged them to keep their composure in the third, telling them it was the only way they'd get back in the game.
Brennan Menard had the LU faithful on their feet 38 seconds into the contest, outracing Windsor’s Elliott Richardson to the puck and pushing a breakaway goal past Van Buskirk for a rapid-fire 1-0 lead. Five minutes later Wilkins, alone in front, took a dandy pass from Matt Caria stationed behind the Windsor net, doubling the Thunderwolves lead. Forty-one seconds later he was at it again, firing it home to put Lakehead up 3-0.
Palmer started the Lancer comeback with a 4-on-4 goal at 9:05 of the first and Brett Vandhogen closed the gap to one just 42 seconds later, the first of three power play goals Windsor would tally on the night. Palmer tied it up two minutes into the second and scored the go-ahead goal exactly seven minutes later, a lead they'd never relinquish.
"Obviously it's really nerve-wracking, as strong as this team is. We knew it was going to be a battle to get back into this game. But you just try to take it goal-by-goal, get that momentum, get them off their game and just try to change things up a little bit," said Palmer, a Tecumseh, Ont. native.
"Obviously we changed up the forecheck, we changed little things, just to try to keep them guessing. I think that really helped."
Windsor coach Kevin Hamlin said the Lancers just didn't want to be embarrassed.
"We just wanted to stop the bleeding," he said, asked what fuelled the unlikely comeback. "They were more prepared than us to start the game. They got a couple of lucky breaks early and it shows a lot of character on our part to regroup after that. A 3-0 lead is tough to overcome, let alone against a great team like Lakehead."
Spencer Pommels scored on the power play at 10:50 of the second to establish a two-goal Lancers lead, then, with Frazee and Adam Sergerie serving penalties, Evan Stibbard put it away at 18:57, giving Windsor a commanding 6-3 lead.
Matt Caria, with a vicious slapshot at 5:15 of the third, got one back on the power play for the Thunderwolves, but replacment goalie Matt Murphy kept them at bay the rest of the way, stopping 20 of 21 shots in the final stanza to preserve the win. Brett Vandehogen scored into the empty net with 43 seconds on the clock.
Claw marks: Sitting this one out for the Wolves were defencemen Dancik Malouin, Mitch Fillman (concussion) and Jay Gilbert, as well as forwards Jake Carrick, Victor Anilane and Jason Grecica ... Luke Judson extended his point-scoring streak to four games, as did Gamache and Frazee.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Menard 1 (unassisted) 0:38. 2. Lakehead, Wilkins 4 (Caria, Judson) 5:53. 3. Lakehead, Wilkins 5 (Gamache, Frazee) 6:34. 4. Windsor, Palmer 5 (Stibbard) 9:05. 5. Windsor, Vandehogen 4 (Oliphant) 9:47 pp. Penalties: Menard LAK (high sticking) Sergerie LAK, Beaudoin WIN (roughing after the whistle) 7:01, Pommels WIN (holding) 7:41, Sagert LAK (hooking) 11:55, Vandehogen (interference) 12:06, Palmer WIN (tripping) 15:24.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Windsor, Palmer 6 (Pommels) 2:11. 7. Windsor, Palmer 7 (Stibbard, Ferry) 9:11. 8. Windsor, Pommels 9 (Steingraber) 10:50 pp. 9. Windsor, Stibbard (Richardson) 18:57 pp. Penalties: Gamache LAK, (slashing) 7:46, Sagert LAK (high sticking) 8:28, Dubchak LAK (goaltender interference, roughing after the whistle) 10:18, Hammond LAK (hooking) 11:06, Maw LAK (misconduct), Quakenbush WIN (misconduct) 14:09, Gamache LAK (roughing, fighting major, game misconduct, served by MacDonald), MacKenzie WIN (fighting major, game misconduct) 18:24, Frazee LAK (slashing major, game misconduct) 18:29, Sergerie LAK (slashing) 18:42.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 10. Lakehead, Caria 5 (Sergerie) 5:15 pp. 11. Windsor, Vandehogen (Oliphant) 19:18 en. Penalties: Pommels WIN (slashing) 5:12, Bezzo WIN (roughing) 5:40 Bench Minor LAK (too many men, served by Hammond) 7:11, McIntosh LAK (slashing) 14:32, Crevatin WIN, Dubchak LAK (fighting majors, game misconducts) 19:56.
GAME DATA – SOG – Windsor 10-21-12-43, Lakehead 12-9-21-42; Power plays (goals-chances) – Windsor (3-8), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – Windsor: Parker Van Buskirk, Matt Murphy (6:34, second), Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,723.
