Havana, Cuba- Looking to bounce back from a poor performance in Denver, the Thunder Bay Timberwolves headed south to take two points out of Havana.
>>>Things looked bleak early when Thunder Bay-native, Eric Staal opened the scoring for the Moon at :28. Christian Ehrhoff doubled it up at 11:38, and the Timberwolves were behind the ball.
>>>But a pair of goals from Patrick Sharp helped the road weary Wolves draw even to close out the opening frame.
>>>"They came out smoking," said Thunder Bay's Marc Savard during the intermission. "They've got a potent offense that requires your full attention every shift. We didn't match them early, but Sharpie got us back in it." Savard had assists on both of Sharp's goals.
>>>The 2nd period was all Havana. Willie Mitchell took the lead back and the Timberwolves couldn't counter and the Moon took a lead into the final period.
>>>Things got ugly midway through the 3rd when Alex Ovechkin scored two more goals for the Moon in 13 seconds. But Erik Johnson unleashed a bomb for the second time this season to make it 5-4 Havana.
>>>"EJ's (Johnson) goal was huge for us," said Timberwolves captain, Keith Ballard. "Ovechkin's goals should've deflated us. But we never put our heads down and to get a huge goal like that back... it felt like a statement goal."
>>>Marc Savard tied things up at 16:10 from newly recalled Sheldon Souray and Marian Gaborik (pictured). Souray was playing his first game of the season after rookie, Carl Gunnarsson was injured in Denver. Savard's goal would hold and the two clubs went into overtime.
>>>Not looking to split any points, Marian Gaborik took things into his own hands and skated through the Havana defense alone and back handed a shot short-side on Scott Clemmensen to win it 6-5 for the Timberwolves.
>>>"Gabby's been clutch for a long time," said Timberwolves GM, Blake Wendt. "In that situation there's not too many guys out there who would argue against Gaborik having the puck on his stick. I'm thrilled everyday to have him here and in that sweater."
>>>Thunder Bay's long 5-game road trip concludes on Sunday at Copenhagen. A team that is eerily similar in every facet to the Timberwolves. Both clubs sit tied for 3rd overall in the league with 16 points. Both have similarly ranked defenses, and both are seemingly at the same stages of their organizational re-builds and have deep prospect pools.
>>>"There's not many in this league that I respect more in terms of how they've built their team," said Wendt. "Bruce (Niblett, Crusaders GM) has been doing it the right way. He's not only thick with prospects, he's thick with very high-quality prospects. I feel the same way about our overall depth also. So it's natural to respect someone with the same philosophy."
>>>3-STARS
>>>*Marian Gaborik (THU) - Game-winning goal and 2 assists
>>**Alex Ovechkin (HAV) - 2 goals and an assist
>***Patrick Sharp (THU) - 2 goals and an assist
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