BY JASON THOMPSON
Despite giving up the game's first goal,
the Sudbury Wolves bounced back Tuesday night scoring four
unanswered markers to beat the visiting Belleville Bulls 4-1,
keeping their winning streak alive.
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Sudbury forward Nick Foligno
celebrates his third period goal.
View more photos >> |
Sudbury has now won four in a row. A
five-game winning streak would be a season high for the
Wolves.
For the blue and white, forwards Nick
Foligno, Benoit Pouliot and Kevin Baker each had a goal and an
assist, defenceman Marc Staal recorded a pair of helpers and
goalie Kevin Beech turned away 18 of the 19 shots he faced.
Akim Aliu scored the other goal for the Wolves.
"Good goalie," was about all a
nearly speechless Wolves head coach and GM Mike Foligno could
say about Beech's play.
Bulls' goalie Kevin Lalande had a much
busier night than Beech, as the Wolves peppered Lalande with 44
shots.
"If there's one thing that we did
wrong tonight, it was giving the opponent the first goal but we
battled really hard to get back and took control of the
game," Foligno said.
"There wasn't a player on the ice
tonight, as far as the Sudbury Wolves go, that didn't apply
himself and didn't pay attention to the detail of the game
and that's probably the biggest reason why we won
tonight."
After a power play goal by Belleville forward
Scott Baker in the first period, the Wolves' countered with
a pair of goals, scored by Pouliot (24 goals) and forward Aliu
(five goals), within a four-and-a-half minute time frame to put
the Bulls back on their heels. Both goals were scored
rebounds.
The Wolves' kept playing a physical game
and were rewarded with two more goals in the third period. This
time Foligno (15 goals) and Baker (21 goals) tickled the twine
for Sudbury.
Foligno picked up a loose puck in the slot
and rifled it past Lalande to make it 3-1 Wolves. Baker, was
able to give the Wolves' some added insurance thanks to a
precision pass from Pouliot.
The physical play boiled over a couple times
in the second period as Sudbury tough-guy Ryan Donally dropped
the gloves with Bulls defenceman Bobby Davey in a spirited bout
that lasted about a minute.
A couple of minutes later, Aliu squared-off
with six-foot-five, 203 pound, Steven Whitely. The fight was
over in a matter of seconds as Aliu made quick work of his
opponent, dropping Whitely with a couple of solid blows.
After the game, the Sudbury bench boss talked
about Aliu's progress with the Wolves.
"Aliu played a real strong game with the
goal and the fight," said Foligno. "We have a bunch
of players right now that like being here, they like the roles
that they're in, they're accepting the roles that
they're in and they're working really hard for each
other."
"He's just starting," said
Foligno with a big grin when asked if the recently acquired
Aliu was in game shape. Prior to joining the Wolves, Aliu had
not played since November.
"He's starting to look over his
shoulder and hint to the coaches that he wants to get out
there. That's the sign of a player that you definitely know
that he's in the game . . . he wants to be a part of
it."
The Wolves (23-13-1-3) look to continue their
winning ways when the Barrie Colts visit the Elgin St. barn
Friday night. Game time is 7:30 pm.
