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Thunder Bay, Ont.- The Thunder Bay Timberwolves continued their run through the regular season with another victory over the last-place, rebuilding Reykjavik Puffin who were beat before a capacity crowd at Canadian National Gardens on Thursday by a 5-1 score.
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In the win, the Timberwolves marked another historic feat when at 7:08 in the second period, forward Rick Nash notched his 50th goal of the season. The second Thunder Bay player and third consecutive 50-goal scorer after Marian Gaborik accomplished the mark in 2010 and 2011.
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"It's a tough thing to do in the CCHL," said Nash's head coach, Craig Hartsburg. "It's a testimate to the work Rick put in in the offseason, every day, every game and every shift. He's a leader for us and a prime example of what we are all about."
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"This is not just about me," said Nash. "I play with some extrordinary linemates [Sidney Crosby and Patrick Sharp routinely] and this is their accomplishment as much as it is mine. We're given great opportunities by the coaches everyday to succeed. With the pre-game preperations and in-game execution. I will enjoy this. But it's back to work tomorrow and back to going after something special as a team here."
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Nash's 50 goals are the second most in the CCHL, behind Portland's Ryan Kesler's 53. With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy [league's top scorer] is within grasp. But don't think that is something the big winger is thinking too much about.
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"It's not even something I've thought about honestly. Sure it's been brought up. But my focus is game-by-game and focusing on what's at task for that moment. If it happens, great. I hope to score every game. But my job is to help us win games. If I score and we lose, well... it didn't matter."
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With the Timberwolves win and a Dayton Musicmen tie on Thursday, Thunder Bay moved into a first overall tie with Dayton at 112 points. Something that as a team, the Timberwolves are strictly focused on to finish out their regular season.
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"If there is one team we pay attention to outside of our direct competition for that day, it's Dayton," said captain Patrick Sharp. "We are striving for the Presidents' Trophy and home ice throughout the post season. We don't play them again, so we need to do our jobs every game and get some help from other teams. It's one of those things, that when we get back to the room after a game, we turn on CCHL Network and see what happened in their game."
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The Timberwolves next game in Saturday at home against the Linz Black Wings [25-43-6]. A team fighting for the last playoff spot and fresh off a 3-2 overtime win over the Fort Erie Falcons.
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"They're a resilient club that are fighting for their post season lives," said Hartsburg. "Like every opponent, we'll take them very seriously and will have to play them hard and dictate the tempo with our game early and throughout."
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