THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Lakehead Thunderwolves downed Laurentian 5-2 to complete the weekend sweep of the Voyageurs before a crowd of 1809 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Grant Valiquette got Lakehead on the board 8:09 into the game when he tapped the puck behind Laurentian goalie Joel Vienneau to finish off a mad scramble, with Zach Whitlock and Sam Schutt getting the assists.
Carson Dubchak put the Wolves up by two when he slammed home Cody Alcock’s rebound at 15:08 of the first period, with Brennen Dubchak picking up the other helper.
Richard Therrien tipped a point shot past Lakehead netminder Devin Green for Laurentian’s first goal of the night 5:43 into the second period.
Carson Dubchak notched his second of the game three minutes later when he fooled Vienneau, who seemed to be expecting a pass but watched the puck sail past him into the back of the net. Carson’s brother Brennen was once again credited with an assist.
Zach Whitlock finished off a nice set-up by Valiquette and Patrick Murphy late in the period to give the Wolves a 4-1 lead heading into the third.
Lakehead went up 5-1 when Murphy walked in and rifled a shot past Vienneau from a sharp angle at 7:36 of the final frame, with the assists going to Carson Dubchak and Dylan Donnelly.
Jayme Forslund got one back for Laurentian 30 seconds later to round out the scoring for the night.
The Voyageurs applied the pressure in the latter stages of the game, but Green held strong making several good saves to preserve the victory for the Thunderwolves.
Neither team was able to score on the power play as Lakehead was blanked on six attempts and Laurentian on five.
Total shots on goal were 40-37 for Laurentian.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
- Carson Dubchak, Lakehead
- Patrick Murphy, Lakehead
- Devin Green, Lakehead
The win improves Lakehead’s OUA record to 10-10-1, good for seventh-place in the West Division and improves the Wolves’ odds of securing a playoff spot with seven games to go in the regular season.
The Thunderwolves will remain at home next weekend for an intra-division showdown with the second-place York Lions.
