The No. 6 ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves put on an impressive offensive display as they steamrolled the Queen's Golden Gaels 10-1 before 3216 fans Friday night in Thunder Bay. The win raises the Thunderwolves OUA record to 8-3-0, and puts the Golden Gaels at 3-8-0 in conference play. The Thunderwolves were lead by Captain Joel Scherban with 2 goals and 2 assists, Jeff Richards with a goal and 2 assists, Matt Kenny with 3 assists, and Wyatt Tunnicliffe with 2 goals. The Lakehead powerplay accounted for 3 of the 10 Thunderwolves goals. The game also saw Wyatt Tunnicliffe score on a penalty shot.
The first period started slowly, with both teams getting a good chance in the first five minutes. Then, the Thunderwolves found their legs and started to attack Queen's goaltender Rob Purdy. Lakehead's Shawn Perring opened the scoring with a powerplay goal at 8:23 when he tipped in a shot from the point by Mike Jacobsen, with the other assist going to Joel Scherban. Lakehead's Craig Priestlay made it 2-0, on a beautiful set-up from Matt Kenny who had totally undressed the Queen's defenseman before sliding it across to Priestlay. Lakehead outshot Queen's 19-7 in the first.
Lakehead's Jeff Richards quickly made it 3-0 at 12 seconds, assisted by Scherban and Bryan Duce. Robert Hillier made it 4-0 at 9:48, when he beat Purdy high glove side, assisted by Jeff Richards. Scherban made it 5-0 at 11:53, assisted by Tyler Williamson. Scherban came down on a 3 on 1, hesitated, faked the pass, and ripped the shot high glove side on goaltender Purdy. Queen's Rick White notched the Queen's marker at 16:02 on a powerplay goal assisted by Ryan Poll. Lakehead outshot Queen's 17-4 in the second.
The first five minutes of the third saw Queen's get some good chances and Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune making some nice saves including an incredible rolling on his back glove save to rob Queen's Rick White at the 4:38 mark. Then the Thunderwolves exploded for five unanswered goals. Chris Shaffer notched his 11th of the year when he tipped in a blast from the point from Matt Kenny at 6:57 on the powerplay, with the other assist going to Robert Hillier. Wyatt Tunnicliffe was given a penalty shot when Queen's goalier Purdy threw his stick at a loose puck in front of the net, and Tunnicliffe made no mistake at 7:36. Tunnicliffe scored again at 9:35, assisted by Murray Magill and Leon Cooper. Lakehead's Jeff Adduono scored a beauty on the powerplay at 16:52 when he deflected a waist high crossing pass that Erik Lodge directed towards him in front of the net, with the other assist going to Matt Kenny. Lakehead's Scherban closed out the scoring at 18:43, on a lovely passing play set up by Jeff Richards and Bryan Duce.
Lakehead outshot Queen's 17-13 in the third and 53-24 for the game. The game also saw the Thunderwolves ring 5 posts. In a game that saw him allow 10 goals, Queen's goaltender Rob Purdy should be commended for playing a great game, stopping countless 3 on 1s, 2 on 1s, and lone man breakaways. The score could have been higher if not for his strong effort. Lakehead's Grant McCune was not as busy, but had to make some difficult saves, after long stretches of inactivity. My Twolves Shout-Out goes to Matt Kenny for an incredible fake on the Queen's d-man to set up the goal by Craig Priestlay.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau was happy with his team's effort. "To be honest, it was our best game of the season. We had a couple lapses at the beginning of the first and third periods, but Grant McCune was there in goal when we needed him. I'm very happy for Wyatt Tunnicliffe getting his first two goals of the season. We just want to end the first half of the season on a positive note, and and use that momentum to get ready for the Bell Varsity Cup Tournament here in Thunder Bay at Christmas."
The Three Stars, as chosen by Nils Inkila of Canadian Sanomat,were:
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