The Greater Sudbury Cubs welcomed the Elliot Lake Red Wings to the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex on Jan. 5 and sent them home with a loss on their record.
Led by Cubs’ star Pierson Sobush’s two goals, Greater Sudbury clipped the Red Wings’ wings by a score of 4-1.
The win improves the Cubs’ record to an NOJHL-best 28-5-2-0 overall, while the Red Wings fell to 12-19-1-1 in defeat. With 58 points, Greater Sudbury has a solid lead in the league. They’re three points ahead of the Timmins Rock and four points ahead of the Hearst Lumberjacks.
The Cubs drew first blood at 4:15 into the proceedings. Nicholas Toffoli snagged a clearing attempt at the point, sent it across to Oliver Smith, who fed Sobush parked at the top of the crease.
“He neatly steered in his NOJHL-best 26th tally of the season and give him points in nine straight,” the team said in a news release.
Halfway through the first, Samuel Assinewai beat Red Wings’ goalie Cameron Smith through the five hole, making it a 2-0 Cubs game. Assinewai is on a 10-game point streak.
About five minutes into the second, the Cubs scored made it a 3-0 game after Billy Biedermann set up Sobush from behind the net who scored his 27th of the season.
“Moving to the final frame, Elliot Lake dashed Noah Metivier’s shutout bid with 7:23 remaining as they countered in transition in the neutral zone and sent Adam Matar on a partial break, where he tucked in a low attempt for his initial league marker.”
Up 3-1, a late third-period power play saw Oliver Smith take a cross-ice pass from Biedermann and pot it for a final tally of 4-1.
Next for the Cubs is a Jan. 7 visit to Espanola to take on the Paper Kings.
