The Sudbury Wolves were once again in North Bay for Game 2 of Round 2 of the Ontario Hockey League Playoffs against the North Bay Battalion on Saturday night, hoping to tie the series 1-1 after losing in Game 1 a couple of nights prior.
Despite the Pack’s best-laid plans though, it was all North Bay from start to finish in Game 2.
The goaltending matchup was the same as in the first game, with Marcus Vandenberg getting the start in goal for the Wolves while North Bay went with Mike McIvor.
Less than 30 seconds into the game, the Battalion gave themselves a 1-0 lead with a goal from Sandis Vilmanis, his second of the playoffs.
With 5:46 remaining in the first period, Jacob Therrien scored his second goal of the playoffs to give North Bay a 2-0 lead after the first period of play.
There was no shortage of action in the second period, with 14 shots being fired by Sudbury and 11 shots fired by North Bay, but both goalies played outstanding and the score remained 2-0 for North Bay with one period to go in the hockey game.
North Bay would extend their lead 4:53 into the third period thanks to Justin Ertel’s fifth goal of the playoffs, making the score 3-0 for the Battalion.
With 13:48 remaining in the third period, Ihnat Pazil scored his second goal of the playoffs, putting North Bay firmly in control of the game with a 4-0 lead.
With 6:09 to go in the game, Owen Van Steensel scored a shorthanded goal on an empty net, his third goal of the playoffs, to give North Bay a 5-0 lead.
With 4:03 to go in the game, Kocha Delic finally got the Wolves on the scoreboard with his fourth goal of the playoffs, to make the score 5-1 for North Bay, but that is as close as the Wolves would get, falling to the North Bay Battalion by a score 5-1 and now find themselves down 2-0 in the series.
The Sudbury Wolves return to home ice for Games 3 and 4 of the series, hoping to gain some ground, starting with Game 3 on April 16, with a scheduled start time of 7:05 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
