Wolves make it five straight

Get pucks to the net. Ryan Eady (22) unleashes a point shot as teammate Drew Anderson (88) sets up a screen shop in front of Almonte Thunder goaltender Dominik Plaschy. The Wolves’ Matt Gagne chalked up the shutout as Renfrew won 3-0. Coupled with Sunday afternoon’s 4-3 shootout triumph in Shawville, the Wolves have now reeled off five wins in a row. Peter Clark, Renfrew Mercury

It took awhile, but the Renfrew Timberwolves survived a lengthy shootout in Shawville to edge the Pontiac Juniors 4-3 and run an Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League winning streak to five games.
Sunday afternoon’s win also gives the Wolves a bit of breathing room as they look to nail down second place in the Valley Division standings.

Wolves 4, Pontiacs 3 (ot)
The first five shooters in the game-deciding shootout for each team were unable to score.
Then, Scott Conroy and Colin Bradley both connected for Renfrew, while Wolves goaltender Matt Gagne surrendered a shootout marker to Tyler Charbonneau, but turned away Matthew Brooks-Fournier to seal the victory.
It was a game of late-period goals.
Liam Poirier gave the Pontiacs a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza, before Drew Anderson pulled the Wolves even at 1-1 when he notched his first of two on the afternoon at 19:59 of the second period.
After defenceman Erik Mask gave Renfrew a 2-1 lead on a powerplay with 3:23 remaining, Anderson should have iced the verdict when he canned his second into an open net exactly two minutes later.
But lo and behold, the Pontiacs lifted goaltender Danick Boisvert again with nothing to loose.
Brett Nugent scored with 1:03 remaining, and then Charbonneau connected 22 seconds from the end to pull Shawville even.
The five-minute overtime period could not produce a winner.

Wolves 3, Almonte 0
The Wolves didn’t allow the potential frustration to get the better of them.
They couldn’t get a pea behind a red-hot Dominik Plaschy in the Thunder goalcrease  until the final minute of the first period, despite numerous scoring bids.
They were finally rewarded in the last minute.
With 41 seconds remaining, Sean Kyte used a teammate as a decoy on a 2-on-1, got around the Almonte defender and tucked the puck behind Plaschy.
Little did anyone know at the time, thanks to the work of Wolves goaltender Matt Gagne and a staunch defensive effort in front of him, that the Kyte marker was all Renfrew would need.
Gagne only faced four shots in the first period, but that would change as he challenged 13 in the second and 11 more in the third. Many were of a quality variety to earn the shutout.
After a 19-shot barrage in the first, the Wolves matched Almonte’s 13- and 11-shot totals while gutting out the victory.
After what seemed destined to be a 1-0 final, Jesse Riopelle eventually gave the hometown some insurance when he found a shooting lane and fired a high dart past Plaschy with 4:45 remaining.
Drew Anderson capped off the scoring with an empty-net tally at 19:55.
Casey Doner of the Wolves and Connor Wall of the Thunder had the game’s lone scrap. Despite getting ambushed by the Almonte forward, Doner turned the tables and earned the decision.

Dramatic wins
Two losses over the Jan. 25-27 weekend would have pushed the Timberwolves dangerously close to missing the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.
But they answered the challenge with a pair of dramatic victories, and in a wild Valley Division where things can change quicker than the weather, the Wolves stand today in second place.

Wolves 3, Perth 2 (ot)
Colin Bradbury’s overtime marker gave the Wolves a crucial 3-2 triumph over the division leaders Jan. 25.
Bradbury swept down the leftwing, and from a sharp angle, slid the puck past Perth goalkeeper Jason Shaw 3:14 into the extra session.
Ryan Eady and Casey Doner notched regulation-time goals for the Wolves.
Brayden Clancy and Jim Pearson connected for Perth.
Eady and Clancy exchanged second-period markers before Pearson shot the Blue Wings into the lead with 8:22 remaining in the third period.
But knowing the importance of this game, the then fourth-place Wolves showed some urgency in the final minutes.
Hard work finally paid off with 3:16 remaining. With the Wolves on the prowl deep in Perth territory, Eady and Bradbury combined to get the puck to the front of the Perth net.
Stationed just off the goalcrease, Doner snapped the puck into the open side before Shaw could get across.
Both goaltenders were sharp throughout.
The Wolves Matt Gagne made one stop moments before Bradbury’s game winner that some still aren’t sure how it didn’t go in.
The game was Gagne’s best since returning from an injury about a month ago.
Both teams’ penalty-killing units were equal to the task.
The Wolves fought off a two-man advantage for 1:52 in the second period, and Perth killed a double minor early in the third.

Wolves 2, Metcalfe 1
Scott Conroy’s powerplay goal 1:35 from the end gave the Wolves their margin of victory Sunday, Jan. 27.
Bradbury and Eady earned assists on the goal, which decided a solid goaltending battle featuring Gagne and Metcalfe’s Erin Drouin.
Both rose to the occasion with breakaway stops in the third period.
Drew Anderson snapped a quick dart behind Drouin after taking feeds from linemates Jesse Riopelle and Kurtis Leclaire just 39 ticks into the game.
But Scott Fleming drew the Jets even an hour later – still in the first period – on a Metcalfe Jets powerplay.
The Jets’ Bryan Dalrymple was checked into the boards by the Wolves Casey Doner, resulting in a boarding minor.
But Dalrymple hit the boards awkwardly, and was injured. Doner’s sentence was upped to a major penalty and game misconduct.
The game was delayed 40 minutes until paramedics arrived to take the Jets player to Renfrew Victoria Hospital.
After Fleming tied it 1-1 with 3:25 left in the first, there was no further scoring in a game highlighted by the goaltending and sharp penalty killing by both sides until Conroy made the late-game breakthrough.

Wolves howlings
The Wolves will be minus the services of defenceman Dylan Zavitske for the rest of the regular season and perhaps some of the playoffs with an injury.
Reid Greer and Luke Steele of the Novice Timberwolves held their own Do It For Daron Night this past Friday night as a school project and raised more than $1,200 while raising awareness for youth mental health in the community.
The Wolves are at the Nick Smith Centre to take on the Arnprior Packers this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The last home game of the regular season is Friday, Feb. 15. The Pontiac Juniors are in at 8 p.m.