Sudbury Arena was packed with 3,388 excited fans on Friday night, hoping to see their playoff-bound Wolves get another late regular season victory, this time against the Peterborough Petes.
Michael Simpson was in net for the Petes while Kevyn Brassard was between the pipes for the hometown Sudbury Wolves.
Every aspect of this one was tightly contested, with the Wolves coming out on top in the shots on goal department, by a score of 36-34.
Despite both teams getting plenty of chances in the first period, with Sudbury putting 17 pucks on net and Peterborough getting 12 shots, the first 20 minutes of play ended in a scoreless tie.
The scoreless tie was finally broken at 7:26 of the second period, with Seattle Kraken draft pick David Goyette scoring his 39th goal of the season to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, NHL prospect Quentin Musty scored his 24th goal of the season to give Sudbury some insurance and a 2-0 lead.
Almost six minutes later, the visiting Petes pulled within one as Tommy Purdeller scored to make the score 2-1 for the Wolves after 40 minutes of play.
Landon McCallum scored at 2:30 into the third period to put the Wolves back up by two with his 15th goal of the season to make the score 3-1 for the Wolves.
Peterborough wasn't going away easily, however. Avery Hayes scored his 42nd goal of the season to once again pull the Peterborough Petes within one goal to make the score 3-2 for Sudbury. That is how this one would end, 3-2 for the hometown Sudbury Wolves.
With the win, Sudbury now has a record of 29-27-5-3, good for seventh place in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference, and just two points behind the Mississauga Steelheads for sixth in the conference, with four games remaining in the regular season.
The Sudbury Wolves take the ice next on March 19 on the road against northern rival the North Bay Battalion with a scheduled start time of 2 p.m. Then, they head to Barrie to play the Colts on March 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Wolves then return home for their last home game of the regular season on March 24 at 7 p.m. against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers home games of the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
