Sudbury Arena hosted another fierce matchup between the Wolves and Battalion Friday, less than 24 hours after Sudbury claimed their fourth victory against the team this season.
The heavy-handed affair resulted in North Bay claiming their second victory in eight season matchups with a 4-2 final. During which, both teams racked up a total of 19 minutes in penalty time.
Battalion's goaltender Joe Vrbetic was named first star of the game, followed by Wolves' Blake Murray and Sudbury veteran Shane Bulitka.
North Bay caught Sudbury off-guard with a goal 30 seconds into play by a former member of the wolfpack, Bulitka, assisted by Luke Moncada.
With North Bay up 1-0, Sudbury netminder Christian Purboo and the Battalion's Vrbetic both denied any attempt to pad the scoreboard that period.
The Pack moved into the second period at a disadvantage, despite outshooting their visitors 12-11 in the first 20 minutes.
Murray evened up the score about halfway through the period, with help from Nolan Hutcheson, but the Battalion were right on their heels.
Bulitka returned to the net to deliver his second goal of the evening for North Bay and his 18th of the season with 45 seconds in play, assisted once again by Moncada, restoring North Bay's one-point lead.
Shots on goal were 13-11 in favour of the Wolves.
Murray opened up the third period with one final goal for Sudbury, assisted by David Levin, but it was too little, too late for the boys in blue.
Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mason Primeau stole the puck from the faceoff and delivered North Bay's game-winning goal at 7:41, with help from Nick Grima and Kyle Jackson.
He returned to deliver the team's insurance goal on Sudbury's empty net with 45 seconds left in play, assisted by Mitchell Russell.
The match ended with a 4-2 final for North Bay.
Sudbury outshot North Bay 15-8 in the final frame and 40-30 overall.
The Sudbury Wolves are first in the Central Division, second in the Eastern Conference behind the Ottawa 67's and fourth overall, with 23 victories and 21 defeats.
On Saturday, the Pack host the Soo Greyhounds for game five of the Bell Challenge Cup.
