Just one day after a disappointing start to their road trip in Ottawa, the Sudbury Wolves headed south to take on the Kingston Frontenacs in the first of two games this season.
The pack fought hard to return to the win column, making a mid-game comeback that appeared promising but could not beat the force that was Frontenacs' Christian Propp between the pipes.
In the end, Sudbury fell to a 5-3 final at the Leon's Centre, making this the most recent of three back to back defeats.
Kingston's Nick Wong opened up the game at 13:03 with assistance by Francesco Arcuri and Luke Drewitt, followed shortly thereafter by rookie teammate Shane Wright on a power play.
Shane Bulitka put Sudbury on the scoreboard during a power play over their own at 18:29, with help from David Levin and Jack Thompson.
Kingston moved into the second period up one, with shots on goal an even 10-10 after the first 20 minutes.
Wright returned to the net to open up the second period at 13:10, with assistance from Dustin Hutton and Zayde Wisdom in what would be the only goal of the period.
Sudbury moved into the second period down two, with shots on goal 11-9 in favour of their hosts.
The Frontenacs opened up the period once again at 2:24, through what would be considered the game-winning goal. Fifth season Kingston player Lucas Rowe was assisted in the play by Nick King and Vitali Pinchuk.
Levin delivered Sudbury's second goal of the evening and his 10th of the season at 11:44 of the final frame, with assistance by Bulitka and rookie Adam Samuelsson.
He was followed to the net a little less than six minutes later by Thompson, who brought Kingston's lead back down to one with help from Quinton Byfield and Kalle Loponen.
Just when it seemed Sudbury could battle back to victory, Frontenacs' Wisdom swooped past the empty net of the Wolves to deliver the team's insurance goal with 6 seconds remaining in play.
The match ended at a 5-3 final for the Kingston Frontenacs.
Sudbury outshot their hosts 13-7 in the final frame and 41-30 in the game overall.
The Sudbury Wolves are first in the Central Division, second in the Eastern Conference and the league overall behind the Peterborough Petes, with 14 wins and 10 losses.
The pack heads west to take on the Oshawa Generals at the Tribute Communities Centre Sunday at 2:05 p.m., after defeating the team 4-1 on their visit to the Sudbury Arena.
