The Lakehead Thunderwolves jumped on the Nipissing Lakers early and skated away with a 4-2 victory in front of 1880 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Thursday night.
Justin Sefton fired the puck past Lakers goalie Dominec Graham 5:10 into the game to open the scoring, with Billy Jenkins and Grant Valiquette getting the assists.
Dylan Butler converted on wrist shot from close range to put the Wolves up 2-0 at 13:43 of the first period, with the helpers going to Patrick Murphy and Dillon Donnelly.
Brennen Dubchak got the only goal of the second period an unassisted effort at the 3:25 mark to give Lakehead a 3-0 lead heading into the third.
Nipissings Taylor Davis broke Lakehead goalie Devin Greens shutout bid at 3:49 of the final frame, and then Erik Robichaud finished off a two-on-one play at 11:22, cutting the Wolves lead to 3-2.
Murphy buried a wrister from a sharp angle two minutes later on a Lakehead power play after a nice set-up by Kelin Ainsworth and Cody Alcock to restore the Wolves two-goal cushion.
For the night, Lakehead went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Nipissing was 0-for-5.
Total shots on goal were 35-27 in favor of the Thunderwolves.
The Molson three stars of the game were:
1.Patrick Murphy, Lakehead
2.Devin Green, Lakehead
3.Justin Sefton, Lakehead
The Wolves and Lakers will face off again tomorrow night at the Fort William Gardens beginning at 7:00 p.m.