The Greater Sudbury Cubs battled back from a 2-0 first period deficit to edge the visiting Soo Thunderbirds 4-3 at Gerry McCrory Countryside Arena in Sudbury on Jan. 18.
The Thunderbirds got on the board first near the midway point as Grayson Ebrahim netted his 19th of the campaign, beating Cubs netminder and former Thunderbird Noah Metivier.
Less than three minutes later, on the transition, T-Birds’ Jonathan Sonedecker fed a backhand saucer to Jackson Truchon who beat Metivier for his 15th at 15:07.
The teams went to the dressing rooms with the Cubs down 2-0.
“The Cubs cut into the lead as Sam Assinewai cashed in his 16th on a turnover in the Cubs zone near the eight-minute mark of the second period to make it 2-1, beating T-Birds netminder and Erie Otters prospect Maverick Fletcher,” the league said in a game report.
Less than a minute later, Cubs forward Ben Lacroix got the equalizer, his 13th, to knot things at 2-2.
It stayed that way until early in the third, as Sudbury Wolves prospect Hudson Chitaroni put away a rebound off a Christopher Innes shot on a 5-on-3 power play to give the Cubs their first lead of the contest at 2:52 of the third.
“On the same power play, Barrie Colts prospect Nolan Newton deflected a shot from Mason Chitaroni less than 30 seconds later for a 4-2 Cubs lead.”
The Sault wasn’t ready to pack it in though. Thunderbird forward James Legler created a turnover along the boards and fed Truchon in the slot, who beat Metivier to make it 4-3 at 6:13 of the third frame.
It wouldn’t be enough though. The Thunderbirds battled hard with a power play in the final two minutes, but they were unable to beat Metivier for the equalizer.
The win is the Cubs first against the Thunderbirds this season, having two previous losses under their belt. Greater Sudbury’s record improves to 8-0-1-1 in their last 10.
The win improves the Cubs overall record to 31-7-1-1 on the season while the TBirds drop to 22-11-2-1.
The two teams will travel west to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday where the Thunderbirds will host the Cubs for a 7 p.m. puck drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
