Forty-seven seconds into Saturday night's rematch with the Guelph Gryphons the Lakehead Thunderwolves were desperately punching the reset button.
Kris Belan and hometown boy Justin Gvora scored 35 seconds apart in the first minute to stake the Gryphons to a stunning 2-0 lead. But perseverance paid off.
The Wolves battled back, scoring three power-play goals to score an impressive 5-4 triumph, the winning goal coming off the stick of defenceman Mike Quesnele, a third-period deflection that fooled Guelph goalie Cody St. Jacques.
It was the second goal of the night, and fourth of the season for Quesnele, an OUA West all-rookie in 2010-11.
The Sault Ste. Marie native called it a character win for the club.
"It was a couple of weird goals to start," Quesnele said. "Last year it probably takes the wind out of our sails. We've got a strong group of guys this year and we didn't get down. We battled back and I think it speaks a lot to our character.
"We know we're a good team and you can't get down in this league. We got down two goals and we battled back and like I said earlier, it was a big character win for us."
Missing leading scorer Matt Caria, out indefinitely with a right ankle injury, the Wolves were looking for offense on Saturday and got it from their special teams – and not insignificantly, from a young defence that boasted just one true veteran in the lineup with Mitch Maunu also sidelined with a knee injury.
Quesnele, among the league leaders in blue-line scoring with a dozen points in an equal amount of games, came through in the crunch.
His blast from the top of the circle 7:07 into the second period gave the Wolves their first lead of the night, at 4-3, his second, at 12:39 of the third, gave them the win.
"That's my game," the diminutive blue-liner said. "I try to contribute on the offence. Playing with (Mitch Fillman) is good because we both move the puck well and can play off each other, but we both talked at the start of the year and we said we want to be responsible for our own end before we jump up in the play.
"It's a big loss when your leading scorer goes down. When we can chip in like that, it's good. It helps the team and anything we can do to help the team, we're going to do it."
The winning goal was all Fillman and Quesnele. The former held onto the puck and dipsy-doodled through the Gryphons zone, waiting for the opportunity to strike; he spotted Quesnele, who noticed Guelph's Zach Lillie was without a stick, turned and fired on St. Jacques.
Good things happen when the puck is directed toward the net, Quesnele said.
"Filly walked it in and made a nice kick pass to me and I knew the guy didn't have a stick so I just tried to get it through him. I heard post and saw the light. It was pretty lucky on my part."
LU coach Joel Scherban wasn't happy with the first minute of play, especially after talking to his players about not turning the puck over in their own end.
"Then the first couple of shifts we did it twice and fell behind 2-0. But give credit to our players because they didn't get down after that. They started battling hard and we were able to come back."
Rookie Keith Grondin started the comeback in earnest, potting his first for the Thunderwolves at 9:04. Guelph wasn't ready to sit back, and eight minutes later Nathan Martine restored the two-goal lead, beating Alex Dupuis with a well-placed shot. But Jason Grecica pulled the Wolves to within a goal with two minutes to go in the first, connecting on a pass from Mike Hammond entrenched behind the Gryphons net.
Adam Sergerie tied the score two minutes into the second, deflecting a Quesnele shot from the point, then Quesnele gave LU the lead five minutes after that.
Claw marks: Scherban said Caria will be evaluated and could play as early as next week. Maunu, on the other hand, will likely miss the next couple of weeks before being re-evaluaed. Brennan Menard is expected to be ready to go next weekend.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Guelph, Belan 5 (unassisted) 0:12. 2. Guelph, Gvora 3 (MacDonald) 0:47. 3. Lakehead, Grondin 1 (Magill, Anilane) 9:04. 4. Guelph, Martine 1 (Belan) 17:25. 5. Lakehead, Hammond 6 (Grecica, De la Lande) 18:56. Penalties: Teri GUE (interference), Welsh LAK (cross checking) 7:27.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Lakehead, Sergerie 5 (Quesnele) 2:14 pp. 7. Lakehead, Quesnele 3 (Fillman, Hammond) 7:07 pp. 8. Guelph, Teri 4 (Pawlowski, MacDonald) 17:41. Penalties: Gvora GUE (holding) 1:49, Grecica LAK (roughing), Malouin LAK (high sticking) McIntrye (roughing after whistle) 5:17, Martine GUE (tripping) 5:59, Campbell GUE (tripping) 6:33.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 9. Lakehead, Quesnele 4 (Fillman) 12:39 pp. Penalties: Merrett GUE (interference) 4:22, Sagert LAK (holding) 5:52, Malouin LAK (cross checking) 8:17, Merrett GUE (high sticking) 10:43.
GAME DATA – SOG – Guelph 15-12-7-34, Lakehead 8-12-8-28; Power plays (goals-chances) – Guelph (0-3), Lakehead (3-5); Goaltenders – Guelph: Cody St. Jacques, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,734.
