THUNDER BAY – Mack Shields lived up to his last name.
The York Lions goalie put on a spectacular display between the pipes on Saturday night, stopping 30 of 32 shots directed his way to power his team to a 3-2 win at Fort William Gardens and complete the weekend sweep.
Shields, who leads the OUA with a 1.65 goals against average, was at his finest as the Wolves swarmed the Lions zone in the final two periods, outshooting York 24-10.
But a late goal by Lakehead forward Kelin Ainsworth was all the home side could manage in the second and third, the stingy Lions blue-line living up to its reputation as the No. 3 defensive team in Canada.
“We had our chances and we didn’t bury them,” said Ainsworth, whose power-play tally with less than five minutes to go in regulation was the fifth-year forward’s ninth of the campaign.
“That came back to bite us.”
Missed opportunities were the story of the night for LU, losers of two straight.
Shields turned aside Dylan Butler's breakaway backhand early in the first, then later got a bit lucky when the puck took a crazy hop on the side boards and redirected its way toward the empty Lions net.
Lakehead’s Billy Jenkins caught up to it and made a move on Shields, but had the rubber swatted away by a Lions defender before it crossed the goal line.
The Wolves, for the second straight night, couldn’t capitalize on a lengthy 1:32 two-man advantage in the second, LU unable to find the proper aim on Shields.
“We did a good job,” said York’s coach Chris Dennis, who spent two years as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“When you get stuff like that it takes some sacrifice. We had some shot blocks and the guys did a great job. Mack made some saves.”
Lakehead's inability on that particular power play was a source of frustration to Wolves coach Bill McDonald.
“We got the puck up top like we wanted to, but we had three shots and they didn’t even hit the net. They were over the top of the net and that can’t happen,” McDonald said. “It’s either got to hit a stick in front for a rebound or whatever.
“The guy (Shields) played good. He made some really good saves. You can see they’re a good team and that’s what they rely on, more or less defence and their goaltending.”
Playing from behind against a team like York (17-6-2) is never an easy task to overcome.
Eighth-place Lakehead (10-11-2) found themselves in that position most of the night, after Lions defenceman Derek Sheppard opened the scoring 1:32 into the contest, firing the puck from just inside the blue-line to beat Thunderwolves goalie Devin Green, who made 18 stops on the night.
Bryce Milson doubled the lead at 13:18 of the first, marching in on Green after LU defender Patrick Murphy was taken out of the play.
“I don’t know if it was a penalty or not, but it doesn’t matter. The guy walked right in. It was either bad luck or a bad non-call,” McDonald said.
Brennen Dubchak’s quick release finally got the Wolves on the score sheet, one-timing Sam Schutt’s pass from behind the Lions net with less than a second to go in the opening stanza.
Greg Milner had the lone goal of the second, a slap-shot that evaded Green 14 seconds into a York power play.
Lakehead’s Carson Dubchak had back-to-back chances to even the score in the first 90 seconds of the third, but both shots were turned aside by Shields.
Claw marks: The Wolves were without forward Cody Alcock (lower body), who was injured on Friday night. They also played with just five defencemen, Matt Alexander and Jake Ringuette also sidelined with injuries ... Lakehead is now four points up on Western with five to play in the race for the final playoff spot in the OUA West.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. York, Sheppard 10 (Poldma, Milson) 1:32. 2. York, Milson 6 (Bricker, Janes) 13:18. 3. Lakehead, B. Dubchak 7 (Schutt, C. Dubchak) 19:59. Penalties: Donnelly LAK (boarding) 1:57, Sheppard YRK (hooking) 13:31, Bricker YRK (interference) 17:42.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 4. York, Milner 13 (Sheppard, Vannucci) 10: 36. Penalties: Schutt LAK (tripping) 10:22, Sefton LAK (slashing), Bench minor YRK (too many men) 17:07, Feser YRK (high sticking) 17:18, Mort YRK (interference) 17:46.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, Ainsworth (Butler, Sefton) 15:10 pp. Penalties: Bricker YRK (slashing) 14:42,
GAME DATA – SOG – York 11-5-5-21, Lakehead 8-12-12-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – York (1-2), Lakehead (1-5); Goaltenders – York: Mack Shields, Lakehead: Devin Green; A: 1,998.
