WOLVES PUSH FOR GAME 6; SAVARD OUT INDEFINATELY



Marc Savard's post-season is over; career in jeopardy after hit to head

 Copenhagen, Denmark- Twenty-five seconds into Game 5, and the Thunder Bay Timberwolves inched closer to extending their post-season with a goal from Patrick Sharp who was assisted by Anton Volchenkov and Marc Savard. Two minutes into his icetime, and Savard's hockey career became very much in doubt after a brutal hit at the offensive blueline by Crusaders defenseman, Craig Rivet. Someone all to familiar with the Timberwolves after knocking Sharp out last season for over a month with a similar hit when he was a member of the Niagara Falls Thunder.
>>>After lying on the ice motionless for several minutes, team trainers and doctors and local paramedics carried Savard off the ice on a stretcher and was taken by ambulance to a local Copenhagen hospital.
>>>
"First thing is we have to control our emotions," said Sharp in the first intermission. "Savvy's [Savard] a great player and a better human being. It's tough to not just keep thinking about him right now. We have to turn this emotion into a drive to win this for him and keep our season going. We can't worry about Rivet. He's a piece of sh*t that will get his payback in due time."
>>>
With emotions peaked, Thunder Bay took a 2-0 lead when Sharp intercepted a Copenhagen pass at the blueline while on a power play and drove in on Jimmy Howard to beat the New York-native for a shorthanded tally at 8:37 in the first period.
>>>
The Timberwolves took the momentum into the intermission, and as stated in Sharp's comments then, emotions were still high after the Savard hit. To open up the second period, TJ Oshie continued the onslaught just :59 seconds in to make it 3-0.
>>>
Keith Yandle put the Crusaders on the board at 14:33 for his first goal in the playoffs while on the power play. Bobby Ryan added to the comeback with his sixth goal at 19:56 to make it 3-2 Thunder Bay going into the second intermission.
>>>
In the third period, the Timberwolves played a solid all around game. Shutting down their defensive zone and clogging up the neutral zone while limiting the Crusaders to eight shots while unloading sixteen of their own.
>>>
Paul Kariya put the game out of reach at the fifteen minute mark to put Thunder Bay up 4-2. A score that would stand to the end and extend the post-season for the on-the-brink-Timberwolves.
>>>
"It's do or die time, and I couldn't be any more proud of these guys and playing through what should've shut them down in what is for now the biggest game of their lives," said Timberwolves head coach Craig Hartsburg after the game. "Savvy may not wear a letter for us, but he is the heart and soul of this group. He's a vocal, gritty leader that we cannot replace in our lineup. But we have to somehow. I'm not going to comment on the hit itself. Other then the word 'dirty' doesn't do it justice. We have a history with that player [Rivet] that is not a pleasant one. But we have to focus on the next game, keep Marc in our hearts and prayers and win this next one and all the rest for him."
>>>
At Canadian National Gardens, the Timberwolves will arrive home for Game six with a make-shift banner outside that hopefully puts things in motion...

"WIN IT FOR SAVVY"