Sudbury Wolves fans were treated to a rare Wednesday night game this week at the Old Barn, taking on their northern archrivals, the Soo Greyhounds in what promised to be a spirited contest.
And a spirited contest is exactly what the 2,671 fans in attendance received in this one. Sudbury outshot the Sault 39-35 on the way to a big 7-3 win.
It didn't take long for Sudbury to find the back of the net on this night, with Landon McCallum scoring his 13th goal of the season, assisted by Nicholas Yearwood, just 2:21 into the game. That is how the period ended, with Sudbury leading the Sault, 1-0.
In the second period, McCallum struck early once again, scoring his 14th goal of the season and second of the game at 2:19 of the period to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead. Just over two minutes later, Kocha Delic scored his 20th goal of the campaign to give the Wolves a commanding 3-0 lead in the game.
The Greyhounds weren't going to go away, however. Just over a minute later, Connor Clattenburg scored his second goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-1. Then, Julian Fantino scored for the Greyhounds to make the score 3-2 for the Wolves at 8:23 of the second period.
Less than a minute later, though, Nathan Villeneuve scored his 11th of the season to restore Sudbury's two-goal lead, making the score 4-2 nine minutes into the second.
Kalvyn Watson scored for the Sault with just 11 seconds left in the middle frame, to cut the Wolves’ lead to 4-3 with 20 minutes left to play.
The majority of the third period was a quiet one for both teams, until Evan Konyen scored his 15th of the season at 14:46 to once again restore the two-goal lead for the Wolves.
Konyen found the back of the net once again at 16:55 of the third, his 16th of the season, to give Sudbury a 6-3 lead. Then, Matthew Mania scored another insurance marker for the Wolves at 18:36 of the third period to give the home side a 7-3 win.
With the win, the Sudbury Wolves now have a record of 28-27-5-3, which is good for seventh place in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference. The win also officially clinches a playoff spot for the Wolves.
Sudbury's next game is March 17 at 7:05 p.m. at home against the Peterborough Petes. Then the Pack hits the road to take on the North Bay Battalion on March 19 at 2 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers home games of the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
