The Sudbury Wolves continued their road swing in Flint as they took on the Firebirds on Saturday night. In an entertaining hockey game between the two squads, the Firebirds edged the Wolves with a 3-2 overtime victory. Wolves goal scorer’s included Owen Gilhula and Drake Pilon.
Prospect David Bowen made his first OHL career start as he protected the crease for the Sudbury Wolves. Bowen played an excellent game making a total of 37 saves in his debut. Shane Bulitka extended his point streak to four games picking up an assist on Drake Pilon’s goal.
Power plays were the difference makers in the first period as both teams capitalized on the man-advantage, each recording a goal. Gilhula opened the scoring as he released a hard shot over Garrett Forrest to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. For the Firebirds, Fedor Gordeev was credited with a goal as the puck was poke-checked by Bowen, before going off a Wolves’ player’s stick and into the net. The teams went into the intermission tied at 1.
Despite the Wolves out-shooting the Firebirds 17-10 through the second period, the Firebirds exited the frame with the lead. A highlight reel goal from Ty Dellandrea made it 2-1 as he slipped the puck through a defender’s legs and beat Bowen.
A great play from Drake and Darian Pilon led to the goal that tied the game, as the twins broke in on a two-on-one. Drake shot the puck over the shoulder of Forrest to tie the game at 2. His goal came as his third in two nights and was enough to send the game into overtime. Bowen played a strong period for the Wolves as the Firebirds pressured hard, out-shooting the Wolves 16-9 in the frame.
Halfway through overtime, Maurizio Colella flipped the puck top shelf to end the game with a 3-2 victory for the Firebirds. Final shots on net were 39-38 in favour of the Firebirds.
The Wolves will finish off another busy weekend on the road with a game in Saginaw Sunday evening at 5:30 pm against the Spirit.
