The Sudbury Wolves had a little more bite to their game on Wednesday night than they did in their pre-season opener more than a week ago.
The Pack squared off with their Northern Ontario rivals from North Bay on Sept. 13, and the Wolves controlled play for much of the game, peppering Battalion netminder Mat Woroniuk with 44 shots.
Despite a much stronger start than in their first pre-season game, the Wolves still found themselves behind after a period of play, thanks to a Brandon Coe goal with about six minutes to play in the first period.
Sudbury outshot North Bay by a count of 16-6 in the first period but weren't able to find the back of the net.
The second period started out terribly for the Wolves as North Bay stretched their lead to 3-0 just 1:30 into the middle frame on goals by Simon Rose and Adam McMaster just 30 seconds apart.
Not to be deterred, the Wolves anwered back before the second period ended, with Brandon Bastasin scoring his first of the pre-season with nine minutes remaining.
Zach Wilkie got the Wolves out the a quick start in the third, beating Woroniuk just 15 seconds into the period with a powerplay goal and putting the Wolves within one.
Dawson Baker potted his first of the pre-season just over five minutes later to draw the teams level at 3-3.
That's where the score would remain as the teams were knotted after regulation play. The Wolves outshot the Battalion 44-20 on the night.
North Bay managed to score twice on Wolves goalie David Bowen in the shootout, while Reagan O'Grady was the only Wolves player to cash in against Woroniuk, as the Wolves fell by a final score of 4-3.
The Wolves fall to 0-1-1 on the pre-season and will be back on the ice on Friday to take on the Soo Greyhounds at home. Puck drop is 7:05 p.m.
