The more than 4,000 fans who packed Sudbury Arena on Friday night were treated to a high-scoring game, with a total of 17 goals, between the visiting Windsor Spitfires and the Sudbury Wolves.
And it took the Pack an overtime period before sending the Spitfires limping back home to Windsor.
The Wolves went with Marcus Vandenberg once again as their starting goaltender while Max Donoso got the nod for the Spitfires
Almost seven minutes into the first period, Landon McCallum scored his 19th goal of the season to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.
Then, at the 9:40 mark, Carson Woodall scored his fifth goal of the season for Windsor to tie the game 1-1.
With 4:26 remaining in the period, Windsor took a 2-1 lead with Ryan Struthers’ second goal of the season.
A power play goal from Ethan Martin at 17:05 into the period increased the Spitfires lead to 3-1.
Sudbury would close out the first period with a goal from Nick Yearwood, his eighth of the season, with less than one minute to play.
At the first intermission, the Spitfires held a 3-2 lead.
Almost three and a half minutes into the second period, Windsor reclaimed their two-goal lead with Liam Greentree’s 31st goal of the season, making it 4-2 for the Spitfires.
On a tear, Windsor would score again 25 seconds later, with Colton Smith notching his 12th goal of the season to give the Spits a 5-2 lead.
It was at this point, it seemed, something clicked in the Wolves, who would go on a three-goal run before the end of the second to claim the lead in the game.
It started almost seven minutes into the middle frame when Dalibor Dvorsky scored his 36th goal of the season to pull the Wolves within two.
Less than two minutes later, Dvorsky would do it all over again, scoring his second goal of the game to cut the Spitfires’ lead to 5-4.
Then at the 11:26 mark of the second, Quentin Musty scored his 32nd goal of the season and suddenly the game was tied 5-5.
The Wolves would take the lead with 33 seconds to go in the second. Andre Anania scored his eighth goal of the season and put the Wolves ahead 6-5 with one period remaining in regulation.
The third period would see the teams score a total of seven goals.
Just under four minutes into the third period, Quentin Musty scored his second goal of the game, making it a 7-5 Wolves’ hockey game.
The Spitfires weren’t done yet though. Liam Greentree scored his second goal of the game for the Spitfires exactly six and a half minutes into the third period making the score 7-6 for the Sudbury Wolves.
With 11:40 remaining in regulation time, Musty completed his hat trick, giving the Wolves an 8-6 lead.
With 3:48 remaining in the third period, Nathan Gaymes for the Spitfires scored his second goal of the season, continuing the onslaught of goals and making the score 8-7 for Sudbury.
Windsor tied the game with 3:35 left in regulation with a goal from Noah Morneau, his 35th goal of the season, making the score 8-8 heading into overtime.
Just 43 seconds into the extra frame Quentin Musty scored his fourth goal of the game, and sixth point of the night, to lift the Sudbury Wolves over the Windsor Spitfires in overtime by a score of 9-8.
Sudbury Wolves captain and draft pick of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken David Goyette collected two points in the game, becoming the first player in the Ontario Hockey League to get 100 points this season.
With the win, the Sudbury Wolves hold a record of 35 wins, 19 regulation losses, four overtime losses and three shootout losses, good for first place in the Central Division, first place in the Eastern Conference, and fifth place overall in the Ontario Hockey League.
The Wolves take to the road on March 10 to play in North Bay against archrival the Battalion with a scheduled start time of 2 p.m. The, they come back home on March 15 for a game against the Oshawa Generals, scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
