>>>Thunder Bay, Ont.- On Saturday, the Thunder Bay took it to Havana after suffering two dismal losses to Dayton and Copenhagen. Sandwiched between two Moon goals, the Timberwolves scored four unanswered. The biggest being the 50th from Marian Gaborik. Making it twice in as many years that the Slovakian sniper has hit the half-century mark for the Timberwolves.
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"It's thrilling to have someone of Marian's prowess on our hockey club," remarked Timberwolves GM Blake Wendt. "We didn't hesitate when Dayton offered him up back in '09, and we've been more than pleased with what he adds to our lineup. We as a hockey club preach the team-first mentality. This is one individual stat that doesn't happen without the guys that surround Gabby and do what they do to feed him. To me, this is something that this entire group of guys can share with him."
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Before Gaborik's goal, the Havana Moon did get things going. Thunder Bay-native, Eric Staal made it 1-0 at 1:18 into the game.
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An aggressive Erik Johnson danced in from the point and beat a surprised Ondrej Pavelec at 10:34 into the first period to tie things up.
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Gaborik's tally came while on the power play at 19:10 from Johnson and Mike Fisher. The timing of the goal was more powerful for the Timberwolves than the actual two-minute salute from the Thunder Bay faithful.
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"Of course we were happy for Gabby," said alternate captain, Fisher. "But whenever you can score in that last minute of a period and take that momentum into the room. It's huge. To have it also be something so special like a 50th goal... we almost need to calm ourselves down a little."
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In the middle period, Thunder Bay came out flying but couldn't do much with the thirteen shots taken on the Moon goaltender. That was until the 11:33 mark when rookie centre, John Tavares made the most of a intercepted pass and broke in on Pavelec. Beating the Czech goalie five hole after a series of dekes. Tavares' goal would be the lone one in the second period.
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In the third, it took five minutes and fifty-three seconds for Rick Nash to notch his 23rd of the season from Tavares and Ales Hemsky to make it 4-1 Thunder Bay.
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A late goal with :15 seconds left on the clock from Thomas Fleischmann drew Havana within two. But it was too little too late and the Timberwolves skated off with the 4-2 victory.
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"We did what wanted to do and stuck with the gameplan set forth in the morning skate," said defenseman Brooks Orpik after the win. "Hank [goaltender Henrik Lundqvist] was there when he was needed [stopping 17 of the 19 shots against] and we controlled the tempo from the goal line out. These are the games we need to work with to beat those clubs that seem to have our number."
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One of those teams is the Denver Spurs who visit Thunder Bay on Monday. Bringing with them their 4.63 goals per game average and their single point difference in the overall standings behind the Timberwolves.
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"Match-ups are key against a team like this and the fire power they bring," said Timberwolves head coach, Craig Hartsburg. "They can hurt you in alot of ways. In close and from the point. We will have to limit their opportunities and somehow break through to where we can get in on their defense that seems to be a weakened area."
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>>>3-STARS
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>>>*Marian Gaborik [THU] - 1 goal [50th] and an assist
>>**John Tavares [THU] - 1 goal and an assist
>***Erik Johnson [THU] - 1 goal and an assist
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