The Sudbury Wolves returned to Sudbury Arena on Saturday to host the Soo Greyhounds for game five of their six-game Bell Challenge Cup Series.
Trailing 1-3 in the series, the odds were against the Wolves, but that wasn't going to slow the Pack down. They came out strong, lead by star centre Quinton Byfield with a hat trick, and claimed game five with a 5-2 final over their northern counterparts.
Sudbury Wolves' Quinton Byfield, David Levin, and Jack Thompson claimed the title of the first, second and third star of the game respectively.
Byfield notched the only goal of the first, beating Greyhound's netminder Nick Malik 12 minutes into the game to give the Wolves an early lead. Assists came from Levin and Blake Murray.
The Pack moved into the second period up one, after outshooting their guests 15-7 in the first.
Byfield was once again the only player to influence the scoreboard in the second period. Delivering his second goal of the evening at 10:19, assisted again by Levin, pushing Sudbury's lead to two.
Byfield returned to the net to complete his hat trick with 30 seconds left in play, with what would be considered the team's game-winning goal and his 29th goal of the season, tying his rookie-season record. Assisted came by way of Levin and Isaak Phillips.
Sudbury lept into the final frame up three, with shots on goal 16-11 in their favour.
Wolves' Matej Pekar brought this unopposed lead to four just under nine minutes into the third period. Scoring his 20th goal of the season with help from Macauley Carson and Brad Chenier.
The Greyhounds took their place on the scoreboard with a goal by Marc Boudreau at 10:31, assisted by Billy Constantinou and Zack Trott, cutting the Soo's deficit to two.
Greyhounds forward Tye Kartye followed this up a little over seven minutes later with help from Trott and Constantinou, but this would be Sault Ste. Marie's last goal of the evening.
Chenier slipped under the radar to bury one more goal for Sudbury on the Soo's empty net, with 10 seconds remaining in play, assisted by Kalle Loponen.
The game was called at a 5-2 final for Nickel City.
Sudbury outshot the Sault 12-8 in the final frame and 43-26 overall.
This is the Wolves' second victory in the six-game Bell Challenge Cup series against the Soo Greyhounds. The series now rests on a final deciding battle March 6 at Sudbury Arena.
They are currently first in the Central Division, second in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the league overall, with 24 victories and 21 defeats.
Next up for the team is a trot down south, to face the Barrie Colts at Colts Centre Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
