THUNDER BAY -- There’s an old adage that says hockey is a game of inches.
It was never truer than on Saturday night.
Early in the third period the puck took a bad hop off the end boards, fooling Lakehead Thunderwolves goaltender Justin McDonald. Josh Timpano pounced on the loose puck and slammed it home, the visiting Brock Badgers taking a 3-1 lead at Fort William Gardens.
Later in the final stanza, the Thunderwolves still down by two, Billy Jenkins rang one off the post.
An inch here or an inch there and it could have been a much different outcome, said LU coach Bill McDonald, who instead watched his team emerge on the wrong end of a weekend sweep, dropping a 4-2 decision on the heels of Friday’s 5-2 defeat.
“It’s a game of inches, a game of chances and a game of bounces,” McDonald said, who had nothing but praise for the Wolves effort.
“I feel bad for the guys in there because they spent a lot of energy and they did what I asked. (Brock’s) got a heavy team and we’ve got a quick team. We took time and space throughout the game for the most part, and it just didn’t come up on the right end for us the last couple of nights.”
While the Wolves want to learn from their mistakes, they also want to put the weekend out of their minds as quick as possible.
The seventh-place Wolves (8-8-1), leapfrogged by the Badgers (10-8-1), have only Waterloo and Western standing between themselves and a second straight playoff miss, and the players know they squandered a chance to pick up valuable points in the opening weekend of the OUA’s second half.
“It’s got to be done right now. We’ve got another big weekend coming up. We’re in a really tight race. I don’t know if there’s any points gap between second and eighth,” said sophomore defenceman Linden Springer, who put the Wolves on the board first for a second straight night in the final minute of the opening period, his long shot eluding Brock goalie Clint Windsor.
“The standings aren’t going to look the same tomorrow and probably won’t after next weekend either. It’s a big push from here on out and we need to start getting some points.”
Sammy Banga finally solved LU goalie Justin McDonald, who stopped 28 shots on the night, his first of two on the night coming off a rebound at 4:35 of the second.
His second came at an opportune time, with just 14 seconds to go in the period.
“If you have a TSN turning point, I think it was (that goal),” Bill McDonald said.
“It doesn’t help when that happens.”
The Thunderwolves had plenty of chances to put the puck past Windsor in the third. Rookie Devin Fullum was sent in alone on the Badgers goaltender while the Wolves were killing off a penalty, but fired the puck into Windsor’s blocker. Carson Dubchak had a chance in close a little later in the period, but the puck was smothered by Windsor.
Zach Whitlock, playing just his seventh game of the season, pulled the Wolves to within a goal with 41 seconds to play, but Brody Silk fired the puck into the empty net at 19:49.
“We’re leaving quite pleased,” said Brock coach and Thunder Bay native Murray Nystrom. “We knew today was going to be a different type of game than it was yesterday, and it was.”
Claw marks: The Wolves were without captain Justin Sefton (upper body), E.J. Faust (heel) and Evan Mignault (upper body). All three are considered day-to-day … Attendance was 1,919.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Springer (Murphy) 19:02. Penalties: Purvis BRK (high sticking) 1:30, Rossiter BRK (delay of game) 3:40, C. Dubchak LAK (hooking) 8:49, Silk BRK (interference) 18:54. B. Dubchak LAK (slashing) 19:21 pp.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Brock, Banga (Timpano, MacLeod) 4:35. 3. Brock, Banga (Radjenovic) 19:46. Penalties: Maniccia BRK (interference) 12:39, Bench Minor LAK (too many men) 17:24.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Brock, Timpano (MacLeod, Morden) 1:51. 5. Lakehead, Whitlock 1 (B. Dubchak, Murphy) 19:41. 6. Brock, Silk (MacLeod) 19:49. Penalties: Ainsworth LAK (tripping) 3:48, Jambrosich BRK (slashing) 6:55, Hynnes LAK (cross checking) 9:30, Bench Minor LAK (too many men, served by Butler) 15:37, Nardi BRK (holding) 17:20.
GAME DATA – SOG – Brock 8-12-13-33, Lakehead 14-5-14-33; Power plays (goals-chances) – Brock (0-5), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – Brock: Clint Windsor, Lakehead: Justin McDonald; A: 1,919.
