A good hockey team finds different ways to win and to be successful.

Coming off a perfect road trip to Thunder Bay where the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team outshot, outscored and outplayed Lakehead, it was a bit of a different story Friday night on home ice.

The Lakers were almost doubled in shots, but found a way to win, edging the Ryerson Rams, 4-3 thanks to building a 3-0 lead and holding on in the third period.

In what seems to be a trend, the Lakers and their opponent, in this case, the Rams, ended the opening period tied 0-0 despite the Rams outshooting Nipissing 10-2.

The Lakers woke up in the second period, scoring three times and taking it to the Rams.

Mackenzie Keirstead, Craig Campbell and Chad Thibodeau all found the back of the net for Nipissing to give them a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes, despite being outshot.

In the third, the Rams came out flying and controlled much of the play offensively.

In the third alone, Ryerson fired 17 shots at Lakers goalie Kirk Rafuse, who had a strong game in net, making 33 saves in total.

Thanks to their pressure, the Rams closed to the gap to 3-2, but just 10 seconds after their second goal, Lakers forward Mitch Deacon scored the game-winner.

Keirstead picked up the helper, earning his second point of the night.

The Rams would score with just less than four minutes remaining on the clock, but that was as close as they would get.

With the victory, Nipissing has now won three in a row and have catapulted themselves into third place in the East Division with a record of 5-3-3, good for 13 points.

It doesn't get any easier for Nipissing, despite their strong play of late, as they face the always tough Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday night on home ice to complete their weekend action.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.