Jekyll and Hyde weekend for Lakers hockey

The Nipissing Lakers hockey team returned to the ice last weekend after a five-week hiatus for the Christmas holidays. The team showed obvious signs of rust on Friday night, losing 5-1 to the Queen’s Gaels. That rust was all sanded off on Saturday, though, as the Lakers defeated those same Queen’s Gaels 7-3, thanks to a Doug Clarkson hat trick. Here is North Bay Nugget Sports Editor (and Nipissing Alumnus) Ken Pagan’s take on the Saturday night action.Clarkson turns trick on Gaels to lead LakersNorth Bay Nugget By Ken Pagan
It wasn't close to a must-win situation, but the Nipissing Lakers knew heading in that a second straight loss to the Queen's Gaels to open 2012 would throw a giant wrench into their plans for a big second half of the season.
The Lakers took care of business Saturday night, a 7-3 win over the Gaels in a performance that was "night and day" to the 5-1 loss in the opener of the two-game showdown with Queen's on Friday night.
Doug Clarkson scored twice in the opening 15 minutes and later completed the hat trick to help the Lakers (10-5-4) earn their first win of 2012 in front of 1,104 fans at Memorial Gardens.
Jason Gray, Grant Toulmin, Marcus Watson and Brodie Beard also scored for the Lakers, who outshot the Gaels 32-9 in building a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes. Brogan Bailey and Dorian Peca each picked up three assists.
"We changed our game plan a little bit," said Lakers head coach Mike McParland. "We wanted to come up the ice quicker and get the puck in quicker and our plan right from the start was to go with a hard forecheck and get our legs moving.
"I think we needed that one game (Friday) to get the rust off and we saw a total different team. Even though we only had one power-play goal tonight, we had a lot of chances. Everybody was more alert and focused, much more aggressive and skating better. It was a night and day difference between last night and tonight."
Queen's (8-8-1) showed some life in the third, outshooting Nipissing 20-6 and getting their three goals from David Chubb, Jordan Soquila and Scott Kenway.
The two teams combined to score six goals in a sloppy three-minute span late in the game, with the Lakers holding a 7-1 lead at one point.
Daniel Spence earned the win, making 26 saves.
Toulmin's goal, his first in the OUA, stood up as the game-winner, a wrister under the crossbar from the slot past Gaels goalie Riley Whitlock with 5:52 left in the second period.
"I found some open ice and (Andrew) Marcoux made a nice pass and I just put everything into it," said Toulmin, the six-foot-five forward from Langley, B.C., who played three seasons with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos. "It felt like about 900 pounds coming off my shoulders. I forgot how it feels to score for awhile there."
Toulmin said it was important to the team to bounce back with a better effort and earn a win after Friday's lacklustre showing in their first game back after a five-week break.
"We came out last night and kind of laid an egg," Toulmin said. "We were a bit rusty, but you don't want to use that as an excuse. We really needed this one, especially after last night. We put a lot into this game to get ourselves going. We knew we had to come out and play our game and get a win and start the year on the right foot.
"It's the second half and playoffs are coming, so this is when we need to start getting some streaks together and playing our hockey."
Toulmin's physical play was noticeable in both weekend games, and scoring his first goal is a small reward for his effort.
"I thought this weekend, the most consistent players over the two nights were Clarkson — he had his three goals tonight and he was one of our four players who showed a pulse last night — Toulmin, Bailey and Matt Paton, less so tonight than last night, but he was a good penalty-killer for us tonight," McParland said. "Of course, Marcus Watson's speed is always useful."
With the win, the fourth-place Lakers kept pace with the Ottawa Gee Gees (12-7-1) who moved back into third place Sunday with a 2-1 win over Toronto. The Lakers have a game in hand.
The Lakers host a vital home game Friday night, when the fifth-place Carleton Ravens (10-6-2) visit Memorial Gardens at 7 p.m.Ice ChipsThe three stars were Clarkson, Bailey and Peca.Forwards Jacob Verheyden and Lucas McKinley were inserted into Saturday's lineup, in place of Dan Watt (sick) and Scott Restoule. Verheyden picked up an assist on Watson's goal.McParland said the Lakers were still waiting for official clearance before dressing new forward Kevin Flather, a 25-year-old with professional experience in Europe.