A win is a win.
The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves won their first game at the 2008 TELUS Cup, beating the Ottawa Valley Titans 6-4.
Sudbury built up an impressive 5-1 lead by the end of the second period, only to see the big lead evaporate right before their eyes in the third period.
The Nickel Capital Wolves came out flying against the host team, when Captain Mathieu Lecours scored just 24 seconds into the first period.
Lecours then netted another goal on the power play at the 9:39 mark to make it 2-0.
Ottawa Valley cut the lead in half at the 18:24 mark when Sebastian Goulet found the net on the power play.
Sudbury exploded in the second period thanks to goals by Deven
Stillar, Lecours and Denis Restoule in a span of 13 minutes and
one second to construct the 5-1 lead.
Sudbury fell flat in the third as the Titans, looking to be remembered, pumped in three straight goals in just over seven minutes to make the game 5-4. Devin Cobbold, Nathan Siydock and Devon Rice all put pucks past Sudbury's goalie Christopher McDougall to make a late charge and give Sudbury a wake-up call.
The comeback fell short as Stefan Herrington popped a late power play goal at 16:12 of the third frame to seal the deal and give Sudbury the 6-4 win.
The win was exactly what Sudbury was looking for despite the rough third period.
"It sets the tone for the rest of the week," head coach Peter Michelutti Jr. said. "If we can keep going, we can get to that semi-final game. It was a good start."
Sudbury came out sleepwalking in the third period, but managed to wake up before they gave away the game. The coaching staff hopes the team learned a hard lesson about earning a lead and then tossing it away with lacklustre play for a full 60 minutes.
"They came out a little bit flat in the third period…maybe thinking it was going to be a little bit easier," Michelutti Jr. said. "Every team here isn't going to quit or give up. We got stung a bit…fortunately, we got out of it."
Lecours, thanks to his three-goal outburst, was named the player of the game for Sudbury.
"I got the monkey off my back early and the bounces were going my way," the captain said. "That's what we were hoping for…getting this win is really good for us."
After giving up the fourth goal to make it 5-4, Sudbury listened to their coach to settle their nerves and regroup to take the game.
"Petey told us to calm down…just stick to our game," Lecours said. "(That sixth goal) was a big one."
There's no rest for Sudbury as they take on the Pacific Region champions, the Calgary Buffaloes at 4 pm on Tuesday. The Buffalos lost their first game, 3-0 to the Winnipeg Thrashers.
