In a low-scoring, back-and-forth affair, the Greater Sudbury Cubs skated to a 2-1 win over the Blind River Beavers in the West Division final of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs on April 5.
The Cubs drew first blood in this one after Samuel Assinewai slid into the Beavers’ zone from the left side, slipped a defender to move into the slot and snapped the puck over Blind River netminder Noah Tegelaar’s blocker.
“Coming right back, the Cubs tacked on another prior to the first intermission, with (Cameron) Walker working his way free in front and finishing off a Nolan Newton feed that came from behind the goal line,” a game report states.
With the Cubs up 2-0, the Beavers finally got on the board in the second period. On a power play, defenceman Tyler Vorstadt skated in from the point and blasted an Evan Fraccaro pass over the glove of Cub’s Noah Metivier.
The goal ended a long run for Metivier during which he stopped everything that came his way. That run lasted an impressive 151 minutes and 41 seconds.
Blind River pulled their goal late in the third for the man advantage, but they couldn’t get the tie they were looking for to force the game into overtime.
Game 2 in the West Division final goes Saturday at 7 p.m. in Blind River. If you can’t make it in person, you can stream the game on FLOHockey.tv.
Here’s the schedule for the remainder of the series:
- Game 2: Saturday, April 6 @ Blind River 7 p.m. (Blind River Community Centre)
- Game 3: Monday, April 8 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
- Game 4: Tuesday, April 9 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
- Game 5*: Thursday, April 11 @ Blind River 7 p.m. (Blind River Community Centre)
- Game 6*: Sunday, April 14 @ Sudbury 7:35 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
- Game 7*: Tuesday, April 16 @ Blind River 7 p.m. (Blind River Community Centre) *-if necessary
