THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Grant Valiquette scored the shootout winner to lead the Lakehead Thunderwolves over Western 6-5 on Friday night.
 
The Mustangs staged a pair of third period comebacks on Friday, bouncing back from 4-2 and 5-4 deficits before eventually falling in the shootout.
 
After Mike DiPaolo and Ray Huether scored within two minutes of each other to tie the game at four, an offensive zone giveaway sprang Lakehead's Billy Jenkins on a breakaway where he deked to his backhand and beat Luke Peresinni to restore the Thunderwolves' lead.
 
But that's when Lakehead got sloppy, as forward Zach Whitlock and goalie Devin Green took penalties roughly 40 seconds apart to give Western a 5-on-3 advantage with 54 seconds remaining.
 
On cue, Trent Ouellette made Lakehead pay. He converted on a pass from Rob Polesello to tie the game with just 24 seconds on the clock and send it to overtime, where Valiquette would eventually win it for the Thunderwolves in the shootout.
 
Peresinni finished with 32 saves on the night for Western; Green countered for Lakehead with 28 stops of his own.
 
In the first period, the Mustangs snatched a 1-0 lead thanks to Spenser Cobbold's sixth goal of the season. However, less than one minute later, Cody Alcock answered for Lakehead to even the score.
 
The Thunderwolves would add another goal, courtesy of Valiquette, to carry a 2-1 lead with them to the first intermission.
 
Kelin Ainsworth, Lakehead's leading scorer, tacked another on the board midway through the second period to extend the lead to two.
 
But Scott Teskey gave the purple and white some hope heading into the break, as he potted a shorthanded goal with just 10 seconds left in the period to lend the Mustangs some momentum heading into the final 20 minutes.
 
Midway through the period, things began to look bleak for Western when Sam Schutt scored to restore Lakehead's two-goal advantage.
 
Despite the deficit the Mustangs kept pushing and generated numerous chances, and they eventually came through on the goals by DiPaolo and Heuther.
 
When Jenkins scored with time winding down, Western again kept pushing and Ouellette came up clutch to tie the game with just seconds on the clock.
 
Unfortunately, the Mustang magic did not persist into extra time. After 10 minutes of scoreless overtime, the first three shooters for each team were stopped in the shootout before Valiquette scored in the fourth round to seal the victory for the Thunderwolves.
 
The fourth round is when Valiquette sealed the victory for the Thunderwolves.
 
The two teams face off again at 7 p.m. tomorrow night in Thunder Bay in Western's season finale.