The Sudbury Wolves entered Thursday's contest with a chance to lock up a playoff spot, but that will have to wait at least one more night as the Wolves were beaten soundly by the North Bay Battalion to the tune of 4-0.
It wasn't necessarily a must-win game, as Sudbury will have the same opportunity to clinch a playoff spot Friday night on home ice against the same Battalion team, but the Wolves are putting themselves in a nail-biting position.
North Bay's Brett Hargrave got the home team on the board midway though the first period, as the Wolves were once again bitten by a slow start that saw them get outshot 16-5 in the first frame.
North Bay continue to pound the Sudbury net in period number two and opened the game up with a pair of goals in a two minute span midway through the second as Brett McKenzie netted his 29th and Zach Poirier scored his 14th.
Juliam Sime held the fort for the Troop the rest of the way, turning aside all 23 shots he faced, and Adam McMaster added an empty netter with just 35 seconds left on the clock to seal the 4-0 victory.
The Wolves were given six opportunities on the power play as the Battalion had some discipline issues, racking up 18 penalty minutes on the night, but the Wolves could not take advantage.
North Bay now sits just a single point back of the Wolves for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The two will meet at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Sudbury Arena, and the Wolves will once again have a chance to lock up a playoff position.
With three games left on the schedule, the Wolves could still conceivably move up as high as the sixth seed, but a string of losses could see them fall out of the playoff picture entirely.
