5 hours Ago By Leith Dunick
THUNDER BAY – With their coach sitting on 99 wins, the Lakehead Thunderwolves didn’t make Andrew Wilkins sweat out No. 100 for very long. Liam Whittaker scored 71 seconds into Friday night’s contest against the visiting Brock Badgers, Keighan Gerrie added a second goal 2:09 later, and Olivier Pouliot, who finished with two goals and an assist on the night, gave the T-Wolves a three-goal cushion on the power play, just past the 10-minute mark of the first.
Though the offence kind of died down after that, Lakehead only managing 10 shots over the final 40 minutes of play, they did add a couple more tallies to provide the insurance the Thunderwolves would need to pull out a crucial 5-2 win. It was just another win, said Wilkins, trying to push his team into the OUA playoffs, Friday night’s triumph likely going a long way to ensuring they’ll be in the postseason hunt later this month. “All wins feel good.
When you try to reflect – and I think it’s a little bit too early – I’ve been a part of some really good teams, with good players. It’s been a privilege to coach with a lot of good coaches and just to be here with the Thunderwolves is what I love doing,” said Wilkins, whose win total includes OUA and non-conference victories. “Getting to the milestone is a reflection of everybody in the hockey program.
” The two points were the most important part of the night. Just six points separate first from eighth, with only the top six teams making the playoffs. The win gives Lakehead (13-8-2) 28 points, tied for second with Toronto, with a game in hand, knowing the top two teams earn a first-round bye.
“We’re feeling pretty good. Obviously last week was pretty big for us and this one was also big. We just have momentum right now and we’ve just got to keep it going,” said Pouliot, who took over the team lead with his 10 th and 11 th goals, passing Spencer Blackwell, who has 10 in 23 outings.
It felt good to contribute, said Pouliot. “Just winning games and helping the team win this game, it feels awesome,” he said. His second goal was a thing of beauty, Trentyn Crane spotted Pouliot skating on the other side of centre, fired a lengthy, pinpoint pass up the middle and Pouliot raced in alone on Brock goaltender William Hambley, who was chased by LU’s fourth tally of the night.
“I went in on the breakaway and saw he was a little bit on his right side, so I just said I was going left right away and it worked,” Pouliot said. Brock did manage to get one back before the second period came to a close, Andrew Amousse beating Christian Cicigoi in the final minute of the middle stanza. Justin Paul, choosing to shoot from the left side on a two-on-one, ripped a wrist shot past Samuel Vyletelka 8:09 into the third, all but icing the game at that point.
Ryan Thompson added a second Badgers goal on a last-minute power in the third. Cicigoi finished with 22 saves on the night. The Badgers and Thunderwolves will meet again on Saturday night at the Gardens.
Game time is 7 p.m, as Lakehead honours its departing players prior to the contest. FIRST PERIOD Scoring : 1.
Lakehead, L. Whittaker 2 (Blackwell, D. Massie) 1:11.
2. Lakehead, Gerrie 6 (Pouliot, Murphy) 3:20. 3.
Lakehead, Pouliot (Blackwell, DeGrazia) 10:32 pp. Penalties : Cournoyer BRO (roughing) 9:49. SECOND PERIOD Scoring : 4.
Lakehead, Pouliot 11 (Crane) 4:14. 5. Brock, Amousse 2 (Greenway, Tymkin) 19:21.
Penalties : Greenway BRO (tripping) 10:52. THIRD PERIOD Scoring : 6. Lakehead, Paul (Murphy) 8:09.
7. Brock, Thompson (Cook, Duarte) 19:19 pp. Penalties : Greenway BRO (slashing) 4:09, Badalamenti LAK (tripping) 10:17, Gannon BRO (tripping) 11:37, N.
Massie LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct) 18:12 GAME DATA – SOG – Brock 5-5-12-22, Lakehead 10-6-4-20 ; Power plays (goals-chances) – Brock (1-2), Lakehead (1-4); Goaltenders – Brock: William Hambley (12 shots, eight saves), Samuel Vyletelka (4:14 second), Lakehead: Christian Cicigoi; A : 2,704..
