By John Payatta
THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Lakehead Thunderwolves will embark on a three-game road trip against three different opponents this weekend, beginning at Ryerson where the Wolves will butt heads with the Rams on Thursday night. The Wolves will then head down to Windsor for a Friday evening tilt with the Lancers before traveling to Western to square off with the Mustangs on Saturday night.
Recent Results
The Thunderwolves are winless in their last six starts, but have collected three vital points during that stretch as half of those games were decided in overtime.
One of those overtime losses came last Friday night at the Fort William Gardens, where the York Lions overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to edge the Wolves 5-4 in extra time. Lakehead was subsequently shut out 4-0 in the Saturday rematch.
Series History
Lakehead holds the edge in the all-time series over Ryerson (13-6) and Windsor (42-22), but not over Western (28-44-1); the only team in the OUA West with a winning record versus the Thunderwolves.
Jockeying for Position
Heading into this weekend, Lakehead sits in 7th place in the OUA West Division with 24 points, one point behind 6th place Western and three points ahead of 8th place Windsor. Ryerson is currently in 3rd place with 31 points. Needless to say, the outcomes of these games will go a long way in determining playoff positioning and possible home-ice advantage in the penultimate week of the regular season. The top eight finishers in the ten-team OUA West qualify for the post-season.
Offensive Contributors
While Lakehead’s top line of Dylan Butler, Scott Gall and Brennen Dubchak continue to lead the pack in point production, a pair of defenders are doing their part offensively as well. Jake Ringuette and Patrick Murphy rank fourth and fifth respectively in team scoring.
