ELLIOTT BLANKS EXPRESS IN SPIRITED CONTEST

Elliott makes 26 saves for his second shutout of the season

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Thunder Bay, Ont.- Coming off of a embarassing 5-1 loss on Monday to the Spurs, the Timberwolves looked to turn things around on Wednesday against the visiting Express.
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Having his own struggles since being acquired from Long Island prior to the trade deadline, defenseman Mark Streit finally notched his first goal in a Timberwolves sweater at 3:44 into the first period from Marian Gaborik and Patrick Sharp.
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"It's been a little frustrating to not be contributing here when I was brought in to score these kinds of goals," remarked Streit. "Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and get that monkey off my back."
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Also in the first period, a physical tempo was set. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, it also meant they would lose one of their top blueliners. Brooks Orpik got engaged with Brad Boyes after the whistle. As the two traded words and gloved jabs, Orpik went too far and cross-checked Boyes in the face. Leaving the Express forward in a bloody mess, and Orpik being escorted to the dressing room. Receiving two minutes for roughing and a ten-minute game misconduct.
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At 15:55 into the second period, Steve Sullivan made it 2-0 for the Timberwolves for the Timmons, Ontario-native's 22nd goal from Mike Fisher and TJ Oshie.
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Two-minutes and fifteen seconds later, Thunder Bay scored again. This time from Erik Johnson who skated in from the point and back-handed a floating shot over the shoulder of Long Island's Steve Mason.
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A late tally from Gaborik at 19:28 closed out the first forty-minutes of hockey with the Timberwolves up 4-0.
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"We're feeling good right now and it's showing up on the scoreboard," said Gaborik at the break.
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In the third period Sullivan notched his second of the game with assists from Johnson and Ales Hemsky, and closed out the games scoring at 4:41. But the game and extra curricular activities were far from over.
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At the 9:35 mark in the period, Marc Savard and Long Island's Eric Nystrom also got toe-to-toe. This time with the Express crossing the line, dropping a glove and getting in a punch and taking a 5-minute fighting major while Savard received two minutes for roughing.
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The game reached it's climax at 16:31 when Sidney Crosby took one too many liberties by jabbing at a clearly gloved and controlled puck by the Timberwolves goaltender, Brian Elliott. Erik Johnson, protecting his goalie, shoved the Express centre to the ice. Crosby quickly jumped back up with his gloves off. Johnson was more than willing to engage Crosby and the two traded punches and were continued the wrestle on the ice as the linesmen tried to seperate the two. Both traded words with each other and each other's benches as they were escorted to their respective dressing rooms.
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"They're frustrated I'm sure, and this all didn't stem from this game," said Timberwolves captain, Keith Ballard after the game. "Crosby's a great hockey player, but he does run his mouth alot out there and gets ticked off pretty easy when he gets pushed around. EJ [Johnson] did the right thing and took him down when he clearly wasn't going after the puck anymore and was just wacking at Ells [Elliott]."
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"It's nice to finally be on the other side of a five goal game," said head coach, Craig Hartsburg. In the Timberwolves last three losses, they had given up five goals in each. "Elliott was great there in the first [stopping all 14 shots faced] and we finally rewarded our goalie for his play by shutting down our zone [Elliott faced 12 shots total in the 2nd and 3rd periods] and controlling the neutral zone and taking our game to them. This is a good game to get a series of wins down. Everyone wants to go into the playoffs on the right foot and everything clicking."
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The Timberwolves will play again on Friday when they welcome the Victoria Ronin [20-49-6].
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>>>3-STARS
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>>>*Brian Elliott [THU] - 26 saves in 2nd shutout of season
>>**Steve Sullivan [THU] - 2 goals and an assist
>***Erik Johnson [THU] - 1 goal, an assist and a fight to complete the 'Gordie Howe Hat Trick'