Leads are something the Lakehead Thunderwolves are going to have to learn how to protect.
They also have to figure out how to properly play with a man advantage, especially on Fort William Gardens home ice.
Lakehead (0-2-0) gave up a shorthanded goal for the second night in a row on Saturday after not surrendering one all of last season. It cost them as they lost their second straight to open the OUA campaign, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting McGill Redmen (2-0-0).
“I guess those breakdowns will come back to bite you against good teams, right?” said co-captain Andrew Wilkins, whose second effort two-thirds of the way through the final stanza pulled the Wolves to within a goal, his first of the young season.
“At the beginning of the year, on special teams there are always a couple of tinkers you’ve got to fool around with. Puck management will definitely be part of practice next week.”
Coach Joel Scherban isn’t pressing the panic button just yet, despite the 0-2 start, the first time the Wolves have started so slowly since 2005-06, Scherban’s final year as a player.
LU lost its first two games to Windsor that season, but rebounded and wound up in the national title game.
Scherban said it was just a couple of lapses in judgment that cost the Wolves special teams.
“It was just a bad decision on that (goal),” he said. “We tried to force a play on that line change and we paid for it. Hopefully we learned our lesson there. I thought our power play wasn’t too bad at times. We generated some chances and controlled the puck pretty well. But they had a great penalty kill.”
Once again it was Maxime Langelier-Parent providing the Redmen heroics, rifling a slapshot hard enough that Lakehead goalie Jeff Bosch, making his OUA debut, couldn’t catch up with it. The marker, at 8:33 of the third, put McGill up 3-1 at the time, enough margin to eke out the victory. It came moments after LU's Mike Hammond ripped a shot that caught McGill goalie Mark Segal on the shoulder, then caromed off the post and out of harm's way.
“We’re pleased to come in and get four points, with all the variables that are present,” said McGill coach Kelly Nobes. “It’s not an easy place to win and we’re certainly happy with the results this weekend.
“I thought we did some good stuff, particularly on the penalty kill, but I think there’s some areas of our game we need to improve. It’s early, but overall, I’m pleased with the result.”
For a second straight night, it was the Thunderwolves who broke through first. Matt Caria beat Segal on a broken play early in the second, after the two teams played a scoreless, but entertaining, first.
McGill’s Evan Vossen waited four minutes to net the equalizer, banging home his own rebound after Bosch made a nice toe save on the initial shot.
Andrew Wright put the Redmen up for good 1:25 into the third, firing a shot high on Bosch’s glove side. Not long after Bosch got help from his post, when Guillaume Langelier-Parent just missed on a similar shot.
The Wolves had their opportunities down the stretch, but with Bosch on the bench, they couldn’t manage to beat Segal, their best chance likely a missed one-timer by rookie Jake Carrick as the clock hurried toward zero.
Getting that tying goal wasn’t going to be easy, Scherban said.
“I think McGill tightened up and were a lot better defensively and they held back. I hope we didn’t run out of gas. We worked hard. That last minute we had a number of good chances again, and I’m just a little surprised the puck didn’t find it’s way into the net.”
McGill outshot the Thunderwolves 33-32.
Claw marks: The Wolves will hit the road for Ottawa next weekend, for a pair against the Gee Gees (1-1-0), who beat Laurier 3-1 on Saturday night ... Scratches for the Wolves included Luke Maw, Jason Grecica, Jadran Baljo, Josh Mrakic and Keith Grondin.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Welsh LAK (holding) 2:39, Sagert LAK (boarding) 9:51.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Caria 1 (Gamache, McDonald) 4:13. 2. McGill, Vossen 1 (Dorion, Vachon) 8:17 pp. Penalties: Quesnele LAK (cross checking), Langelier-Parent MCG (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:06, Menard LAK (checking from behind, misconduct) 7:28, Sergerie LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct) 8:17, Laporte MCG (roughing) 8:36, Caria LAK (slashing) 9:48, Maunu LAK (delay of game) 11:11, Genest LAK (interference) 19:05.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. McGill, Wright 1 (Picard-Hooper, Longpre-Poirier) 1:25. 4. McGill, Langelier-Parent 2 (unassisted) 8:30 sh. 5. Lakehead, Wilkins 1 (Menard, Hammond) 13:21. Penalties: Boisvert MCG (roughing), Caria LAK (hooking), Gamache LAK (roughing) 5:50, Genest MCG (hooking) 8:38, Biniek MCG (roughing) 13:41.
GAME DATA – SOG- McGill 7-14-12-33 Lakehead 11-10-11-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – McGill (1-7), Lakehead (0-5); Goaltenders – McGill: Mark Segal, Lakehead: Jeff Bosch; A: 2,317.
