Just 48 hours after the Sudbury Wolves took a 3-1 series lead over the Mississauga Steelheads with a 5-3 win in Sudbury, both teams took to the ice in Mississauga on Friday night, with the Steelheads hoping to stave off elimination and continue their time in Mississauga.
Despite the lopsided score, both teams’ goalies had impressive games.
Marcus Vandenberg took over from the injured Jakub Vondras in goal for Sudbury while Jack Ivankovic got the start in goal once again for Mississauga.
The Sudbury Wolves wasted no time getting in front as Alex Pharand scored his first goal of the playoffs 2:22 into the game to give Sudbury an early 1-0 lead.
With 9:57 remaining in the opening period, Evan Konyen scored on the power play, his fourth goal of the playoffs, increasing the Wolves’ lead to 2-0.
With under four and a half minutes remaining in the first period, the Steelheads cut Sudbury’s lead in half on the power play with Angus MacDonell’s third goal of the playoffs to make the score 2-1 for Sudbury after the first 20 minutes of play.
Just over two minutes into the second period and with the ice surface barely dry, JackVan Volsen scored his first of the playoffs for Mississauga to tie the game at two goals apiece.
With 5:11 remaining in the second period the Wolves grabbed the lead once again on the power play with Nick DeAngelis’ first goal of the playoffs to give Sudbury a 3-2 lead with one period remaining in the game.
The third period was all Sudbury, starting with yet another power play goal for the Wolves under two minutes into the period, off the stick of San Jose Sharks prospect Quentin Musty, his first of the playoffs, to give Sudbury a 4-2 lead.
Sudbury dominated much of the third period in shots but didn’t score again until 6:31 remaining in the game with DeAngelis’ second of the game and the playoffs, putting the Wolves firmly in control by a score of 5-2 while on another power play.
With 1:15 remaining in the game Wolves Captain and Seattle Kraken prospect David Goyette scored on the empty net to seal the 6-2 victory for the Sudbury Wolves, which also helped allow the Wolves to advance to the second round of the 2024 Ontario Hockey League Playoffs.
The loss for the Steelheads ends their time in Mississauga as they get set to make their new home in Brampton for the 2024-2025 Ontario Hockey League season.
The opponent and schedule for the Sudbury Wolves in the second round is yet to be determined.
