Wolves blast Lakers

The Battle of the Bays wasn’t all it was cracked up to be Friday night.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves scored early, scored often, and continued the trend as the game wore on, slamming the second-year Nipissing Lakers and former Thunderwolves forward Ryan Maunu 10-1 at Fort William Gardens.

Kris Hogg, Ryan McDonald and Andy Hyvarinen each scored twice and Alex Dupuis stopped 17 shots for the Wolves, who picked up a season-best fourth straight win and improved to 8-4-1.

The Wolves scored on each of their first three shots, and once the puck started going in, it seemed like the net just kept getting bigger, said Hogg, who now has seven goals on the season.

“It just seems when we get an early start and get an early lead on teams ... that little let-up seems to open up the game for us.”

Despite the one-sided nature of the contest – Nipissing’s first ever visit to Thunder Bay – Hogg said the biggest mistake would have been taking the Lakers (6-5-1) for granted. Getting off to a good start was part of their game plan, which Lakehead executed to near perfection.

“We know Nipissing is a hot team. They get off to good starts in the first period. For us we knew that we had to weather the storm. You’re not expecting to score on your first three shots, but that’s the way the game went and for us we’ll take it,” Hogg said.

“In the OUA there are tough games where we can’t score. We’ve had a couple of them on the road like that. So games like this we’ll take.”

Hyvarinen, who now has five goals, said the suddenly hot Wolves seem to have found their stride, with just three games left before the Christmas break.

“We’re starting to get on a bit of a streak, get a little momentum going. That quick start helped us out a lot. It put them back on their heels and it never stopped from there,” he said.

Hogg, who hadn’t scored in his past two outings, had the Wolves ahead before most fans had gobbled down their first fistful of popcorn, stepping in across the blueline and rifling a juicy rebound past former Marathon Renegades goalie Kyle Cantlon at the 42-second mark.

After defenceman Andy Zulyniak stopped a near breakaway by Nipissing’s Brandon Happeney at the two-minute mark – a giveaway opportunity by Pierre-Marc Guilbault that started at the Lakers blue-line – Brock McPherson doubled the Lakehead lead, taking a pass from Ryan Magill and slamming it home.

Twelve seconds later it was Hyvarinen’s turn, and just that quickly Lakehead was up 3-0.
Anilane iced it before the period was out, scoring on a give-and-go with new linemate Matt Caria, author of three assists on the night.

It was Anilane’s first of the regular season, a far cry from his 2009-10 first-half output.
McDonald and Hogg victimized Cantlon in the second, the latter chasing him in favour of Billy Stone at the midway point of the period.

Stone stood tall for 13 minutes, but couldn’t stop Ryan Magill from netting his first. Adam Sergerie, with his fifth, McDonald, with his 10th, and Hyvarinen rounded out the scoring for the Wolves.

Dan Watt ruined Dupuis’s bid for a shutout with five minutes to go, a giveaway by Mitch Maunu in the LU end.

Nipissing coach Mike McParland said it went so wrong he didn’t plan to say much to his troops, who just didn’t have it on this night, he said.

“The first three shots they put them in the net. The first three nails were in the coffin already,” McParland said. “We seemed flat tonight. We’ve been playing very well lately, but tonight wasn’t the Nipissing team we’ve seen the last four or five games.”

Claw marks: Referee Andrew Brewer only handed out eight minutes in penalties on the night, two minor penalties to each side. Lakehead scored once with the man advantage ... Out of the lineup for the Wolves were forward Arron Alphonso and defenceman Mike Thibert ... Western lost 5-4 to Toronto in overtime on Friday.
 
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Hogg 6 (Wilkins, Menard) 0:42. 2. Lakehead, McPherson 5 (Magill, Sergerie) 2:16. 3. Lakehead, Hyvarinen 3 (Gamache,Welsh) 2:28. 4. Lakehead, Anilane 1 (Caria, Guilbault) 14:00. Penalties: O’Donnell NIP (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:16, Caria LAK (cross checking) 8:36.
 
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, McDonald 9 (Caria, Smith) 7:21.6. Lakehead, Hogg 7 (Caria) 10:18. Penalties: Gamache LAK (slashing) 3:18.
 
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 7. Lakehead, Magill 1 (McPherson, Sergerie) 3:03. 8. Lakehead, Sergerie 5 (Maunu) 11:14 pp. 9. Lakehead, McDonald 10 (Caria, Anilane) 13:34. 10. Nipissing, Watt 9 (O’Donnell) 14:50. 11. Andy Hyvarinen 4 (Gamache, Quesnele) 19:48. Penalties: Beard NIP (hooking) 10:47.
 
GAME DATA – SOG – Nipissing 7-7-4-18-, Lakehead 18-14-19-51; Power plays (goals-chances) – Nipissing (0-2) Lakehead (1-2); Goaltenders – Nipissing; Kyle Cantlon (26 shots, 20 saves), Billy Stone (10:18, second), Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,827.