THUNDER BAY -- The Lakehead Thunderwolves have been able to open two goal leads with ease so far this season.
The challenge has been hanging on to them.
Lakehead is hoping they’ve taken the first step in changing that trend on Saturday night, snapping a three-game losing slide to pick up their first regular season victory of the campaign, a 4-1 decision over the York Lions in Ontario university regular season play at the Fort William Gardens.
Those three defeats, along with a loss in an exhibiton game played Monday against Minnesota-Duluth, came after the Thunderwolves had squandered early game leads.
“It’s good we cracked it,” Lakehead head coach Bill McDonald said following the victory.
“It plays more on your mind than anything else. The more it goes and the same thing seems to happen all the time and then you start talking about not getting the bounces.”
Lakehead was able to preserve the lead in a game where they had no choice but to start backup goalie Justin McDonald after presumptive starter Jeff Bosch suffered an apparent concussion in Friday night’s contest.
Depending on the length of Bosch’s absence, McDonald might himself in a familiar position where an injury makes him the No. 1 option between the pipes. He was up to the task in his first call of duty.
“We know all about it because he did the same thing last year,” the coach said. “To me he has the perfect mentality for a goalie. Nothing seems to faze him.”
The thought of playing a game that was as close to a must-win in as possible in October certainly did not as the netminder turned aside all but one of the 25 shots that reached the target.
“We really knew we had to get this one. We didn’t want to put too much pressure on but we needed this win for sure,” McDonald said.
For the second straight night the Thunderwolves jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead over the Lions.
Thunderwolves defenseman Jay Gilbert broke the ice just before the halfway mark in the frame, unleashing a one-timed blast on the power play that beat York goalie Chris Perugini.
The lead was doubled six minutes later as fifth-year senior forward Ryan Magill, making his return to the ice after the unexpected death of his father three weeks ago, doubled the Thunderwolves advantage with a slap shot of his own.
Unlike the previous evening, this was a lead that Lakehead actually carried into the locker room after the first 20 minutes.
The scoreline remained the same throughout the second period, despite the Thunderwolves peppering Perugini and the Lions defence with flurries of chances.
The chances did not compromise their defensive efforts, holding the Lions to only 17 shots through the 40 minutes and preventing the backbreaking odd man rushes that had sunk Lakehead in previous games.
“I think it just came down to playing a little more defensive. We had a high forward (in the defensive zone) in this game and the forwards backchecked harder than they had all year for us,” McDonald said.
Déjà vu began to set in for the Gardens faithful early in the third as York forward Trevor Peterson rifled a blast that beat McDonald and trimmed the margin to a single goal.
Undisciplined penalties haunted the Lions in their comeback bid as Lakehead ended up with a two-man advantage where David Quesnele capitalized for the team’s second power play marker of the contest.
Mike Hammond added an empty netter in the final minute to seal the deal.
Claw marks: Wolves forward Cody Alcock left the game in the first period with an apparent wrist injury after being slashed. He did not return. McDonald said Alcock will likely have x-rays taken on Sunday…McDonald would not discuss Bosch’s situation, other than to say it’s suspected he has a concussion and was suffering from headaches Saturday…The Wolves hit the road next weekend for one game each against Toronto and Ryerson.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Gilbert (M. Quesnele, Ainsworth) 8:45 pp. 2. Lakehead, Magill (Hammond, Bruyere) 14:30. Penalties: Milner YRK, Alcock LAK (roughing) 6:19; Poldma YRK (hooking) 8:04; D. Quesnele LAK (slashing) 11:47; Campbell YRK (holding) 19:32.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: M. Quesnele LAK (holding) 2:01; Sheppard YRK (roughing), C. Dubchak LAK (spearing) 6:38; Meloff, Rover YRK (roughing), B. Dubchak (roughing) 10:49; Sheppard YRK (slashing) 13:00;
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. York, Petersen (Sheppard, Campbell) 5:40. 4. Lakehead D. Quesnele (Faust) 13:13 pp. 5. Lakehead, Hammond (unassisted) 19:07 en. Penalties: Gilbert LAK (cross-checking) 7:04; Jackman YRK (tripping) 11:39; Perigini YRK (tripping, served by Meloff) 14:17; Sohor YRK (boaring) 15:52;
GAME DATA – SOG – York (11-6-8-25), Lakehead (11-13-11-35); Power plays (goals-chances) – York (0-4), Lakehead (2-7); Goaltenders – York: Chris Perigini, Lakehead: Justin McDonald; A – 2,151.
