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"We have to set the tempo early and establish our game," said Sharp prior to this game. "They thrive on their team defense and shutting teams down. It's huge to get ahead early and force them to get outside of their gameplan."
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Former Timberwolf, Mason Raymond tied things up at 3:31 in the first. A power play goal from Rick Nash [pictured] at 13:47 took the lead back for Thunder Bay. But a late tally from Mike Knuble at 19:47 evened things out going into the first intermission.
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"That late goal really hurt," said Timberwolves defenseman Erik Johnson at the break. "They have the momentum right now. We have to keep up our confidence and continue to do what we're doing offensively and tighten things up in our own zone."
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Shots in the first period were 14-11 in favour of Budapest.
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At 5:31 in the second, rookie pivot Matt Duchene scored his first career post-season goal. Marian Gaborik doubled up the lead at 9:01 while once again on the power play to make it 4-2 for the Timberwolves. A short-handed breakaway from Sharp at 18:34 was capped off with the Thunder Bay-native scoring his 6th of the playoffs and taking the road club into the second intermission with a 5-2 lead and clear momentum going into the final 20 minutes.
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"Sharpie's goal was huge," said Duchene between periods. "Their late goal in the first period kind of deflated us a little. But there's alot of resiliant guys in the room and we just leaned on the big guns like Sharpie and Gabby and Nash. The never say die mentality is a must at this stage in the season."
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The third period scoring seen both hockey clubs exchanging a single goal each [Nash and Budapest's Mike Modano] and the Timberwolves finishing with a strong 6-3 victory.
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"It was big to establish our game early and stick with it," said Thunder Bay's Mike Fisher after the game. "They came back, but we didn't panic and kept doing what was working and forcing them to take chances. They have one of the best if not the best defenses in the league. So to put six goals behind them is rare. If we can stay consistent, we can dictate games and push our style on them."
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Game 3 goes heads to Thunder Bay on Friday. The Timberwolves will be without defenseman, Brooks Orpik who took a Brayden Coburn point shot off his chin when trying to block it. He will sit our Friday and likely wear a full cage when he returns.
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>>>3-STARS
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>>>*Rick Nash [THU] - 2 goals and an assist
>>**Patrick Sharp [THU] - 2 goals and an assist
>***Marian Gaborik [THU] - 1 goal and an assist
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