Lakehead's Jeff Richards overtime goal gave the No 4 Lakehead Thunderwolves a 4-3 win over the Regina Cougars Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. Regina goalie Rob Muntain was the man of the match as he turned aside 49 Lakehead shots. Lakehead was led by Chris Shaffer with two goals while Adam Fraser and Donnie Kinney led Regina with one goal and 2 assists each. The Thunderwolves dominated play for most of the game, but had trouble beating Muntain and also finding their scoring touch.
The first period was slow paced, featuring a lot of bad passing. Lakehead put on the early pressure but couldn't generate any real scoring chances. Regina's Nathan Waberski then fired a blast at 2:45 that was stopped by a nice sliding save by Thunderwolves netminder Grant McCune. Regina goalie then made an incredible falling glove save off Lakehead's Bryan Duce at 3:30, as Duce broke in alone on the breakaway. Regina jumped in the lead at 4:36 when a clearing pass from Lance Kopan bounced off the skates of Lakehead's Jeff Richards who was parked in front of the net. Assists went to Donnie Kinney and Adam Fraser. Lakehead again put on the pressure but couldn't put the puck past Muntain. Muntain then made two fine saves off Lakehead's Robert Hillier and Shawn Perring. Lakehead's McCune then stopped a hard shot from Regina's Jaymon Hill at 11:00. Regina Captain Fraser laid three hard hits in one shift on Lakehead's Chris Shaffer and Tyler Williamson. Muntain then stopped a 3-on-1 led by Lakehead's leading scoring Richards. Muntain came up with more big saves during a Lakehead powerplay at the end of the period. Lakehead controlled play, but couldn't seem to find their offensive rhythm and Rob Muntain was there to keep them off the scoreboard as well. Lakehead outshot Regina 16-6 in the first.
The Thunderwolves were pressing in the first five minutes, but again couldn't solve Muntain. Lakehead's Matt Kenny rang the Cougars left post with a low wrist shot at 4:10. Regina then put on some pressure and almost got a second deflection goal off a Lakehead player that McCune just got a piece of at 5:44. The Cougars Muntain took a hard Jeff Richards shot off the face mast at 6:50. Chris Shaffer finally solved Muntain at 8:04 when he was fed nicely by Joel Scherban and broke in alone and fired a rocker over Muntain's glove. The other assist went to Mike Jacobsen. Muntain then made a nice glove save off a hard slap shot by Lakehead's Hugo Lehoux. Muntain then made a great save off Lakehead's Perring who blasted a point-bland shot from the low slot. The Cougars then made it 2-1 at 10:22 when Donnie Kinney converted a lovely cross-crease pass from Lance Kopan that beat a sliding McCune. The other assist went to Adam Fraser. Muntain then made a blocker save off Lakehead's Joel Scherban that deflected up and over the Cougars goal. Muntain followed with another fine glove save off a blast by Matt Kenny. Muntain then followed up with a series off stops during a Lakehead barrage. Lakehead then went on the powerplay and Muntain made a good pad save off Lakehead's Richards. Muntain then robbed the Thunderwolves Shaffer who fired from right in front of the Regina goal. Lakehead again went on the powerplay and Muntain stopped two shots by the Thunderwolves Scherban and Richards. Lakehead's Jason Lange finally broke through the Muntain Wall at 19:08 when Lange deflected a hard low shot from the point from Murray Magill. The other assist went to Shawn Perring. The Cougars Muntain was the story of the second, turning aside 22 of 23 Lakehead shots. Regina put 6 shots on the Lakehead goal.
The Thunderwolves again put on the early pressure in the third. Then Regina got a few shots on the Lakehead goal that were handled nicely by McCune. Lakehead's Mike Jacobsen just missed at 5:30, set up by a slick pass from Bryan Duce. Craig Priestlay then ripped one over the net, after being set up p