WOLVES FIND HOLES IN DONUTS

THU 6

WIS 2

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WISBORG, Sweden- The Thunder Bay Timberwolves came to Sweden with one thing on their mind. A win.

>>>The Timberwolves left the same night that they lost to Beverly Hills 5-2 at home on Friday for their trans-atlantic trek.

>>>"It was planned this way whether we won or lost," said Timberwolves General Manager, Blake Wendt. "So there shouldn't be too much read into it. Our plane is setup nice for everyone to sleep well and be ready for these games across the pond."

>>>Upon arriving in Stockholm, the team traveled by bus to Wisborg and hit the ice within an hour of arriving there.

>>>Under different circumstances some teams might take advantage of the shopping in Sweden so close to the holidays. Not the Timberwolves.

>>>"After the skate the guys got a bite to eat and we then had an extended team meeting," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "With all the new guys coming in this past week and even addressing the guys we lost. It was important to address the makeup of this team and our overall goals for the season. I thought it went very well."

>>>Sunday night the Timberwolves finally met their opponent in the Wisborg Donuts.

>>>Coming off injury, Bryan McCabe made it known that he was just fine. Taking on a rush with forwards Marian Gaborik and the newly acquired Marc Savard, McCabe drove the net and backhanded his own rebound over Wisborg's Erik Ersberg to put Thunder Bay on top just 24 seconds into the game.

>>>Milan Michalek answered the bell for Wisborg 44 seconds later to tie it up.

>>>One minute and fifty-eight seconds after Michalek's tally, Marian Gaborik scored his 12th of the season on a feed from Savard and Keith Ballard.

>>>"For awhile there I thought it was going to be a 12-10 end to the game," said Hartsburg.

>>>The first period scoring would end with the Gaborik goal.

>>>After a minor penalty on Wisborg's Fredrik Modin at 1:28 into the second, Marc Savard scored his first as a member of the Timberwolves and fifth of the season from McCabe and Patrick Sharp.

>>>Mike Fisher made it 4-1 Thunder Bay at 18:06 of the second and into the last intermission.

>>>"Everything was clicking for sure," said Timberwolves captain, Keith Ballard. "(Jonas) HIller was great there in the second and really helped force the puck on Ersberg."

>>>The newly acquired Hiller (pictured) was playing in his third game since being acquired from River Cities.

>>>"Jonas is a very quiet guy," said Wendt. "Much like Timmy (Tim Thomas) was here, but even more so. His demeanor in the room translates in his crease. He plays a quiet, relaxed game. Tight butterfly, and is set for almost every shot. Doesn't flop around and get himself into trouble. Clean and makes every save look routine. I've been impressed for sure."

>>>Third period scoring was started by the Donuts and off the stick of Travis Zajac at 8:29.

>>>At 12:27, Wisborg's Mikael Samuelsson tripped up Patrick Sharp for a 2-minute minor. At 14:14, Marian Gaborik scored his second of the night and 13th of the season, unassisted.

>>>Matt Niskanen would close out the scoring with his 3rd of the season from Ballard and Fisher.

>>>"All in all it was a pretty solid all-around game," said Wendt. "There's always things to be worked on. But these are the games to build on and learn to win from."

>>>The Timberwolves next game isn't until Wednesday at home against these same Donuts. The team will have Monday off and spend it in Sweden. Blake Wendt and the Timberwolves scouts will observe a game featuring Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in the Swedish Elite League.

>>>"We've not met with Magnus in person since we acquired him from Dayton," said Wendt. "We'll talk before or after his game and formally give him his Timberwolves sweater."

>>>

>>>3-STARS

>>>***Marc Savard (THU) - Game-winning goal and 2 assists

>>>**Jonas Hiller (THU) - 37 saves and 2 goals against (Stopped all 17 shots faced in 2nd)

>>>*Marian Gaborik (THU) - 2 goals and an assist