A sweep is definitely on Trevor Gamache’s mind.
After six straight weekend splits and a free-fall out of the top 10 rankings and into fourth place in the OUA West, the Lakehead Thunderwolves are hoping to sweep the No. 6 Windsor Lancers and hit the Christmas break with visions of second-half success dancing in their heads.
They took the first step on Friday night in front of the Fort William Gardens faithful, a pair of goals by Gamache leading them to a 4-2 win.
“We’re looking for that sweep tomorrow,” said Gamache, who upped his season total eight goals, and along with Luke Judson, author of the game’s opening goal, is riding a three-game point-scoring streak.
“We haven’t really been able to close out series. We’ve done well against the top teams this year. We’re definitely underachieving by our standards, so we’re really going to close out the half with a big win tomorrow.”
Gamache isn’t sure why they’ve had such a hard time stringing two wins together on a given weekend, something they’ve failed to achieve since opening the OUA season with a road sweep in Guelph.
“Honestly, there’s no reason for any of it. Sometimes a team just outworks you. But we’ve just got to come focused tomorrow. It’s all about focus. The guys knew how big the game was today and they have to know how big the game is tomorrow.”
Handing the Lancers a fourth loss – they’ve dropped just three games in 13 outings – won’t be easy, even more difficult for a team looking to win back a share of first place, lost on Friday when Western took out Waterloo 6-5 in overtime for their ninth straight win.
Can they expect another stellar performance from Alex Dupuis, who stopped 41 Windsor shots, 33 of them in the final 40 minutes?
Can they afford to build a lead and let the Lancers back into it, penalty problems providing that much more opportunity for the equalizer?
Coach Mike Busniuk would rather they try a slightly different route in Saturday’s rematch.
“I guess we were playing against the fifth-best team in the nation, and I guess they showed us why they were the fifth-best team in the nation,” said Busniuk, elevating his opponent one slot higher than their actual ranking.
“They came after us hard and they had us hemmed in for a period-and-a-half.”
Busniuk said his Wolves (9-4-2), who built a 3-0 lead 6:36 into the second, fell victim to the Windsor pinch.
“And our guys just couldn’t get the puck out today. Perhaps tomorrow it’s different. We played well the first period. They played well the last two.”
Matt Caria, who missed last weekend’s games with the flu, opened the scoring 12 minutes in, setting off the Wolves annual charity teddy bear toss, the lone goal of the first.
Judson, whose 10 goals is third-best in the OUA, beat Parker Van Buskirk 35 seconds into the second, then six minutes later Gamache took a beautiful cross-crease pass from Andrew Wilkins, catching the Windsor goalie flat-footed for a three-goal advantage.
But seconds after having a power play goal disallowed for having a player in Dupuis’s crease, the Lancers struck for the first time at 12:45 of the second, when Drew Palmer redirected a Christian Steingraber shot from the point between the LU goalie’s legs.
Evan Stibbard pulled the Lancers within a goal on the breakaway at 4:25 of the third, but couldn’t capitalize on a pair of late power plays.
Claw marks: Jeff Bosch, who sat out several weeks with an injury, was back on the Thunderwolves bench … Former LU forward Jadran Beljo is on the Windsor roster, but did not dress on Friday night.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Caria 4 (Hammond) 11:59. Penalties: Caria LAK (interference) 1:00, MacKenzie WIN (holding) 9:46, Doan WIN (slashing) 15:46, Ferry WIN (holding), Gamache LAK (roughing after the whistle) 20:00.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Lakehead, Judson 10 (Caria, Hammond) 0:35. 3. Lakehead, Gamache 7 (Wilkins, Frazee) 6:36. 4. Windsor, Palmer 5 (Steingraber, Ferry) 12:45 pp. Penalties: McIntosh LAK (high sticking) 10:52.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Windsor, Stibbard 9 (Richardson, Pommels) 4:256. Lakehead, Gamache 8 (Wilkins) 14:47. Penalties: Menard LAK (high sticking), Vandehogen WIN (roughing) 3:13, Quesnele LAK (holding) 10:33, Vandenhogen WIN (roughing after the whistle), Maw LAK (high sticking) 13:35, Quesnele LAK (interference) 17:57.
GAME DATA – SOG – Windsor 8-19-16-43, Lakehead 10-9-2-21; Power plays (goals-chances) – Windsor (1-3), Lakehead (0-2); Goaltenders – Windsor: Parker Van Buskirk, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 3,091.
