The Clarkston Wolves hockey team posted two wins last week as they defeated Waterford Mott, 8-1, on Thursday, Dec. 4 and Royal Oak, 9-4, on Saturday, Dec. 6. Going into this week’s action, the Wolves were 3-0 in the league (4-1-0) overall.
Clarkston’s four-line depth was too much for Mott’s short bench, which skated only two lines because of injuries. Late in the first period, the Wolves scored three times in a 48-second span to head into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
Kyle Cummings scored on a shot from between the circles at 11:52 on assists from Mike Medonis and Kyle Buzzo. On the same shift, Buzzo stuffed a wrap-around inside the post with Medonis assisting. Twenty-four seconds later, Bryan Morin banged in a wrist shot on a pass from Trevor Johns.
Midway through the second period, Cummings scored his second goal of the game on a shot from the right circle, but Mott answered 24 seconds later to make it a 4-1 game. But soon it was 5-1, as Steven Morin went end-to-end.
Clarkston added three more goals in the third period. Adam Peters and Mike Fogg scored on assists from Chris Degen, Dan Mutz and Matt Prasil. Bryan Morin finished the Wolves’ scoring with his second goal of the game on assists from Johns and Peters. Clarkston outshot their opponents 34-10 with Aaron Catanese in net.
The win over Royal Oak began as a seesaw battle, with the score tied 4-4 after two periods. The Wolves outshot their opponents 25-10 in that span.
“It was a sloppy game,” coach Bryan Krygier said. “We controlled the play in the first period. However, in the second we let them back in.”
Royal Oak drew first blood on a power play three minutes into the game, but the Wolves’ Adam Peters responded two minutes later with a power play goal of his own to tie the game at 1-1. Johns and Griffin Cummings assisted.
Royal Oak scored again at 12:01 to take a 2-1 lead and, with Clarkston at their heels, Catanese made a good save on a point-blank shot to keep Royal Oak from taking a two-goal advantage. Senior Steven Morin then came alive and scored his first of five goals on a two-on-one that tied the score at 2-2. Degen and Prasil assisted.
Clarkston and Royal Oak again matched goals in the second period. Johns started the scoring by deking around goaltender Mike Tatchio’s pokecheck to give Clarkston their first lead, 3-2. At the 7:48 mark, Tatchio made a great save on a Peters breakaway, but Johns drew a high-sticking penalty on the play that led to Morin’s second power play goal. Fogg and Scott Cooley assisted, giving Clarkston a 4-2 lead.
But Royal Oak came back with two goals to tie the score once again.
The Wolves came out in the third period on a mission, as they scored five even-strength goals in a six-minute span. Morin tallied three more goals, and Johns and Fogg also turned on the light. Degen and Cooley had two assists each, while Fogg, Morin, Peters and Alex Handley each added one.
“We came out in the third period and took control of the game like we should have from the start,” Krygier said. “I was happy to see some of the guys who should be scoring put the puck in the net for us. Trevor Johns got his first goal of the season and added a second. If we counted only Steven Morin’s goals, we would have still won, 5-4.”
“I didn’t score all week in practice, so this felt good,” Morin said.
What caused the third period attack by the Wolves? “We just told ourselves in the locker room to put everything behind us, control our emotions and just work hard,” captain Buzzo said. “We knew we had 15 minutes left to put some good hockey together.”
The Wolves are scheduled to face Birmingham at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11 at the Detroit Sports Center.