A late-game surge by the Greater Sudbury Cubs propelled the team to a 6-3 win over the Blind River Beavers in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action on Nov. 9.
Blind River scored first in the match-up after Jakob Kovacs forced a turnover in the Greater Sudbury end and fed it back to the point where Dylan Rousselle blasted a shot past Cubs’ starter Noah Metivier.
The Cubs tied it up later in the first thanks in part to Ryan Rubic, who worked a play in front that helped Oliver Smith stuff in his 17th goal of the season past Beavers netminder Noah Tegelaar. Smith is on a six-game point streak.
“Moving to the middle frame, the home side took the lead midway through, right off a draw that got the puck to an open Samuel Assinewai between the circles where he quickly whipped it past Tegelaar,” the team said in a release.
But Blind River would come back to tie it up later in the second. With the Beavers on an odd-man rush, Kovacs lifted a backhand over a sprawling Metivier.
“Not done there, the Beavers responded once more and added another just 30 seconds later, with Evan Fraccaro converting from the left of the crease.”
With the Beavers up 3-2 as the final frame opened, the Cubs came out looking for a win. The team managed to tie it up after Marshall McCharles sent a long pass Smith’s way, who found the bottom corner of the net at 5:10 of the third to make it a 3-3 game.
“The hosts then clicked again a couple of shifts later, while on the power play, when Josh Kavanagh worked a give-and-go with Mason Chitaroni before doing a toe drag at the top of the circles and firing a shot through a maze to put Greater Sudbury back in front,” the team said.
The Cubs made it 5-3 about halfway through the third period when, shorthanded, Noah Kohan charged into the zone against a lone Blind River defender, who lost an edge and fell, leaving Kohan all alone with Beavers’ netminder Tegelaar. It was Kohan who came out on top in this one to give the Cubs an insurance goal.
Hudson Chitaroni would put a capper on things at 12:42 of the last period, taking a sharp pass from Assinewai and potting it to make it a 6-3 final for Sudbury.
The victory for league-leading Greater Sudbury raised their record to 18-5-0-0, while with the loss, Blind River dropped to 14-8-0-0.
