Shane Bulitka had a hand in four of the Wolves' five goals and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen picked up his first OHL win as the Sudbury Wolves took their home opener 5-2 over the Oshawa Generals.
“I think you can see the way we’re going to play night in, night out,” said Wolves Head Coach Cory Stillman. “It’s hard, but when the guys start believing that we can win hockey games and showing that they’re willing to do the little things, to me that’s the outcome you’ll see. We’re not going to win every hockey game, I know that, but if we can put an effort in and give ourselves a chance, I like our odds.”
Bulitka wore the assistant captain letter on his jersey and led the way, putting up a goal and three assists.
“I’m playing with some skilled guys out there, so I’m just working hard to get into the areas and they’re feeding me and we’re capitalizing,” said Bulitka.
The Wolves were not only able to win their first home game of the season, but bounce back from a 10-3 loss the night before in Barrie.
“I just think we’ve got to stick to the game plan that’s put in place by the coaches, like they do a lot of work pre-scouting the teams, and if we follow the game plan then we’re going to expose the other team,” said Bulitka.
One of the nicest passes on the night came from Bulitka over to Kirill Nizhnikov, which gave the Wolves a two-goal lead in the third period.
Nizhnikov was all over the ice throwing hits, picking up his first goal of the season and chipping in with perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game on a third-period back check.
“Shane Bulitka played well, Kirill Nizhnikov it’s the best game he’s had all season including preseason. When you have guys doing that, making a difference, you’re going to win hockey games,” said Stillman.
“I did little things he asked me to do; I think I played hard today and I got rewarded,” said Nizhnikov.
Import goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his first career OHL start, and after two tough first-period goals, he settled in nicely, keeping Sudbury in the game and giving them a chance to win.
“Ukko played well, we rely on our goalies to win hockey games, and you know what, it’s his first game over and he’s playing on emotions. Being down 2-0, he stuck with it, made a couple of big saves and was the difference of the game,” said Stillman.
“He was a calming presence in the d-zone for sure, he was able to settle down and freeze plays and make big saves, so it was good,” said Bulitka.
Luukkonen stopped 23 of 25 shots and was named the second star of the game.
The most impressive part about it was General Manager Rob Papineau said with Luukkonen coming into Sudbury earlier this week, his pads were brand new, he had never wore them before Friday night.
You don’t have to go too far back to find the last time Sudbury won it’s home opener.
Just two years ago the team came away with a win over the Generals, it was also the only season Sudbury has made the playoffs since 2013-2014.
The Wolves saw a few chances in the first period, but a bad break with back-to-back penalties allowed the Generals to jump ahead.
With Darian Pilon already in the box, the Wolves took a high-sticking penalty, giving the Gens almost two full minutes of a five-on-three.
A quick goal from captain Jack Studnicka put Oshawa up 1-0 as his point shot beat a screened Luukkonen.
Not long after, Kyle MacLean beat Luukkonen on a tip in at the side of the net.
The Generals went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead outshooting Sudbury 8-7.
“First period is only 20 minutes out of 60, and we’re obviously down, but it didn’t affect us at all because we were ready to play the other 40 minutes,” said Nizhnikov.
The next 20 minutes were huge for Sudbury as they doubled the Generals in shots 14-7 and scored three unanswered goals.
Jack Thompson scored his first of his OHL career, Shane Bulitka and first overall pick Quinton Byfield scored power-play markers, Byfield’s with 4.9 seconds left in the second period.
The game could have went a lot differently if not for a reversed call.
In the third period, Luukkonen made a number of key saves, but a scramble in front of the net on a Oshawa power play led to a Serron Noel goal.
A lengthly review revealed the play was offside long before the goal went in so it was called off and restored Sudbury’s lead to 3-2.
From there, Nizhnikov finished off a beautiful pass by Bulitka and David Levin scored his second of the season in an empty net to seal it.
Levin finished with a goal and an assist as did Quinton Byfield.
Eric Eschweiler picked up his first career OHL point with an assist on the Jack Thompson goal.
The Sudbury Wolves have Saturday off and will welcome the Barrie Colts on Sunday in a divisional game where the Wolves will want revenge.
