Friday's win over the Waterloo Warriors was all about setting a second-half tone for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Wolves, hot in pursuit of the first-place Western Mustangs, kept a close eye on the rear-view mirror with the third place Warriors (11-5-2) in town, and after a slow start on the offensive side of things, exploded for four third period goal to pull out a 5-1 win.
First line forward Trevor Gamache, who had what appeared to be a sure goal disallowed in the first, scored a shorthanded marker on a brilliant solo effort in the final stanza, his goal setting aside any dreams of grandeur from the Warriors and re-established a two-goal LU lead.
It was the ninth goal of the year for the second-year forward, who was glad to take the two points from the Warriors -- now four points back of Lakehead in the battle for second place in the OUA West.
"We talked about it all week. This is a huge series. If we get the sweep, we're looking pretty good to solidify a top 2 spot and get home ice advantage all the way to the conference championship," said Gamache. "So this was a huge game. We put a little distance between ourselves, but they can tighten the gap tomorrow night and we've got to finish it off."
Joel Scherban, the third-year LU coach, acknowledged the Warriors have enjoyed their fair share of success against the Wolves and at Fort William Gardens in particular, though with nine rookies in the line-up, not everyone was carrying the bitter memories of last season's first round playoff defeat laid on them by Waterloo.
He was happy to keep the charging Warriors, 7-1-2 in their previous 10, at bay.
"Coming into this game they were one of the hottest teams in the country. So we're happy with the way we performed."
There was little not to like from the Wolves in this one. Unlike recent contests, they remained disciplined throughout most of the match. They surrendered just three shorthanded situations and made life easy for goalie Alex Dupuis with smart defensive hockey, including several standout stops by the offensively minded Mike Quesnele and stay-at-home rearguard Mitch Maunu, named the game's first star.
Still it was frustrating to apparently score a goal in the first only to have the officials take it away, saying the whistle had blown before Gamache managed to shove it under Hartigan, the goal judge not hesitating to turn the red light on.
"Guys from our bench saw it. As I was diving I saw clearly in. It's tough when all three refs are in the neutral zone. There was a big scrum and weren't even in there, so I don't know how they came to the conclusion there was no goal. They didn't bother to ask the goal judge," said Gamache, who drew the attention of the Waterloo defenders all night long.
"It's a tough way to start the game, but it was a good scoring chance and just kept going on."
The offence finally got going in the second, courtesy of a wrist shot by defenceman Chris de la Lande, who split the Waterloo defence and ripped the puck past Warriors goalie Keaton Hartigan, the power play goal coming at the 9:33 mark.
Jake Carrick scored what proved to be the winner just 55 seconds into the final frame, but Waterloo's Chris Ray had the answer 19 seconds later.
It's how the Wolves (14-3-0) handled the adversity that had Scherban smiling.
"I thought we had a lapse after we scored our second. We had a breakdown in the system, one of the few we had in the game, and we responded well from that too," Scherban said. "So it's good to see.
Gamache's earlier frustrations made his shorthanded goal at 6:05 of the third that much sweeter.
"I just took the puck (from Steve Whitely), got back into the play. It was a huge penalty kill, so I just tried to pressure them, finally caused the turnover and just tried to skate as fast as I can," said Gamache, who took a big blow from Whitely earlier in the shift.
Mike Hammond, with his seventh, and Keith Grondin, with his fifth, wrapped up the scoring for the Wolves, who out-shot Waterloo 42-27.
Claw marks: Ryan McDonald (concussion) said he hopes to be back next weekend when the Wolves travel to Oshawa to take on Ontario Tech ... The news isn't so good for defenceman Kalvin Sagert (hamstring), who will likely need at least one more week of rest. Also on the sidelines Friday were defenceman Riley McIntosh and forwards Jason Grecica and Victor Anilane ... Thomas Frazee had two assists in his OUA debut ... Western's Sean and Tyler Moir are the brothers of former LU goalie Kyle Moir, who spent four years in Thunder Bay ... Lakehead kept pace with Western, who beat Laurier 7-4 on Friday to maintain a two-point cushion in the OUA West.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: No scoring. Penalties: Cardiff WAT (cross checking) 16:24.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, De La Lande 2 (Frazee, Dupuis) 9:33 pp. Penalties: Menard LAK (slashing), Magil LAK (elbowing) 3:43, Wong WAT (holding the stick) 8:26, Frazee LAK (roughing), Einhorn WAT (roughing, high sticking) 10:10, Chartier WAT (hooking) 12:38.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Lakehead, Carrick 5 (Sergerie, Caria) 0:55. 3. Waterloo, Ray (Hill) 1:14. 4. Lakehead, Gamache 9 (unassisted) 6:05 sh. 5. Lakehead, Hammond 7 (Grondin, Fillman) 16:18. 6. Lakehead, Grondin 5 (Hammond, Frazee) 19:27. Penalties: Beljo LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct) 4:53, Molle WAT (hooking) 8:26, Beljo LAK (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Menard), Hill WAT (slashing) 9:27.
GAME DATA – SOG – Waterloo 8-8-11-27 Lakehead 13-13-16-42; Power plays (goals-chances) – Waterloo (0-3), Lakehead (1-4); Goaltenders – Waterloo: Keaton Hartigan, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,445.
