Thunderwolves and Huskies and bears were out in full force, Saturday night as the Saskatchewan Huskies beat the Lakehead Thunderwolves 4-3 in a shootout on Teddy Bear Toss night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. With the win, the Huskies swept their two-game weekend series with the Wolves.
Lakehead got second period powerplay goals from Kris Hogg and Jordan Smith, with Mark Soares scoring their final tally in the third period.
Freshman Kyle Bortis scored twice for Saskatchewan and added an assist on teammate Steven DaSilvas goal to lead the Huskies, while Steven Gillen potted the shootout winner to clinch the win.
The Huskies got off to a quick start when Bortis scored his first of the night at 4:40, jumping on a rebound to beat Lakehead netminder, Alex Dupuis, who was filling in for the suspended Kyle Moir. Assists were credit to DaSilva and Andrew Bailey. At 14:55 it was 2-0 Saskatchewan when DaSilva jammed the puck in from the doorstep.
Lakehead turned things around on the powerplay at 1:31, when Kris Hogg made it rain Teddy Bears at the Gardens, assisted by Smith and Ryan Baird. Two dozen bags filled with bears were tossed by the Thunderwolves faithful and will be donated to four local childrens charities.
The Pack tied the game on another powerplay marker when Smiths wrist shot from the point found its way past Saskatchewans goalie, Jeff Harvey, assisted by Adam Sergerie.
Saskatchewan went back on top, 3-2, on a powerplay of their own when Bortis scored his second of the evening off helpers from DaSilva and Chris Durand at 11:16.
Regulation scoring closed one minute later when Soares scored for Lakehead, assisted by Andy Zulyniak.
In the shootout, Gillen scored with a top shelf wrist shot on the Huskies first attempt, but Lakehead couldnt counter with a goal on their three attempts as Saskatchewan escaped from Thunder Bay with another non-conference win.
Dupuis made 35 saves in relief of Moir and looked solid against a high octane Huskies team. Harvey stopped 38 shots, and stole the show in the final frame when the Thunderwolves turned up the offensive pressure.
Next up for the Thunderwolves is the Varsity Cup Challenge, December 29-30 as they host the Manitoba Bisons at the Fort William Gardens.