Just 24 hours after defeating the North Bay Battalion in North Bay in a shootout, the Sudbury Wolves were back on home ice on Friday night to take on the same team.
Dom DiVincentiis got the start in goal for the Battalion, while Marcus Vandenberg was the starting goaltender for the hometown Wolves.
Less than two minutes into the game, Dalyn Wakely got the scoring started with his 22nd goal of the season, giving North Bay an early 1-0 lead.
With 11:03 to go in the first period, North Bay increased their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Liam Arnsby, an unassisted goal and his seventh of the season.
At the 14:04 mark of the opening period, North Bay scored again with Justin Ertel’s 16th goal of the season, making the score 3-0 for North Bay.
Sudbury would finally get on the board with 3:23 remaining in the opening period, with David Goyette’s 28th goal of the season. By the first intermission, North Bay held a 3-1 lead.
The second period was a quiet one in comparison to the first. The first goal of the period didn’t come until the 11:21 mark of the middle frame, when Wolves forward Quentin Musty scored his 23rd goal of the season to make the score 3-2 for North Bay.
With time winding down in the second period, Kocha Delic scored his 16th goal of the season to tie the game 3-3, and that is where the game stood with one period remaining in regulation time.
1:15 into the third period Sandis Vilmanis put the Battalion back in the lead with his 13th goal of the season and North Bay was on top by a score of 4-3.
Exactly two minutes later, Nathan Villeneuve scored his 12th goal of the season to once again tie the game for the Wolves, 4-4.
Neither team could score again throughout the third period so for a second night in a row the Wolves and the Battalion headed into overtime.
It took just 19 seconds and one shot on goal in the overtime to decide a winner, as Wolves forward Dalibor Dvorsky scored his 25th goal of the season to seal a 5-4 overtime victory for the Sudbury Wolves.
With the victory, the Sudbury Wolves now hold a record of 25 wins, 14 losses, three overtime losses, and two shootout losses, which is good for first place in the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division, first place in the Eastern Conference, and third place overall in the league.
The Wolves are back on the ice on Feb. 1 in St. Catharine’s against the Niagara Ice Dogs with a scheduled start time of 7 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
