BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Northern Wolves remain undefeated at home after a tight 3-2 victory over the visiting Abitibi Eskimos in NOJHL action last night at the McClelland Arena in Copper Cliff.
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The Northern Wolves came out flat in the game and were dominated in the first period. Abitibi cut off passes and played a tight, physical period keeping Sudbury at bay.
The Eskimos opened the scoring at 7:11, when Jessy Lebel rifled a slapshot past Sudbury goalie Kevin Beech that beat him top glove side.
The Northern Wolves managed just 5 shots in the opening frame.
Sudbury came flying out of the gates in the second period. They started on the power play and made no mistake, when Cory McGillis, who was on the doorstep, jumped on a rebound and fired it into the net past Eskimos' goalie Ryan Scott just 30 seconds into the period to tie it 1-1.
A few minutes later the Northern Wolves took the lead. Dan Bourgeois took a great fed in front of the net from Tyler MacKenzie and slipped the puck past Scott at 5:22 to make it 2-1.
The Northern Wolves took a commanding two-goal lead early in the third period when they capitalized on another power play.
Christian Cundari exploded down the ice and got the puck to Jeffery Christison, who fired it on net. A juicy rebound came right to Brian McGarry, who popped the loose puck past a sprawling Scott to make it 3-1 at 5:43.
Down and out, the Eskimos fought back quickly.
Just 50 seconds later, Chris Pilon raced into the Northern Wolves slot and squeezed the puck past Beech to make it 3-2 at 6:33.
The two teams continued to play a tight, hard physical game, but the Eskimos were unable to get another puck past Beech.
Northern Wolves head coach Jason Stos liked the way his team picked up their play after the first.
Â?We came out flat in the first period, but the guys bounced back and we held them off. Abitibi played a spirited road game, but we tightened up defensively and played well in the end,Â? said Stos. Â?They took it to us in the first. We snapped out of it and got our attitude back and played with more emotion.Â?
Northern Wolves Kyle Doherty knew it was a big win for the team.
Â?We definitely needed this win,Â? said Doherty. Â?Every time we play a division rival, we need a win. Those are the games that count and we pulled through.Â?
Northern Wolves' Dan Bourgeois saw the win as important, since they play Abitibi again on the weekend.
Â?We're playing a home and home series and it's good to win the first one. It sets the tone and hopefully we will go do the same thing in their barn on the weekend.Â?
Eskimos' head coach and general manager wasnÂ?t impressed with his teamÂ?s effort after the first period.
Â?We played well in the first period, but after that it was downhill. It was embarrassing. We never stuck to our game plan," said Gagne. "We have to regroup and learn how to play as a team. We made too many mistakes tonight."
Sudbury's next home game is against the Manitoulin Wild on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 pm.
Snap Shots
-Bourgeois finished the game with a goal and an assist and took a wicked slash to the back of the head at the end of the game, but wasn't injured.
-Beech made 29 saves, including several key saves late in the game to preserve the win.
-McGarry was named the first star. He scored the game winner.
