Wolves take down Spitfires

The Sudbury Wolves got physical Friday night and it resulted in a 3-0 win over the visiting Windsor Spitfires.

From the opening face-off, the Wolves clearly had a game plan of punish, punish and punish.

The Wolves threw their weight around and crashed and bashed in the open ice and along the boards. It wasn’t pretty. At times, it was down right nasty as the aggressive play lead to several fist fights.

The Wolves never let up. Windsor didn’t roll over and take it. The Spitfires gave back almost as much as they received. The Wolves stayed with the game plan regardless and it paved the way to the team’s sixth victory of the season.

“That’s the way we have to play,” Sudbury head coach Paul Fixter said. “Lets face it, we’re not a team that’s going to razzle-dazzle … we have to play that workman-like game.”

Sudbury got the first break of the game when forward Chad Heffernan corralled a loose puck and raced in on a break-away while the team was short-handed. He made no mistake by zipping a crisp shot past Windsor goalie Alex Fotinos at 15:08 of the first period.

It was the first goal by Heffernan in a Wolves uniform since being acquired from Belleville on Dec. 2. Heffernan was glad to help out the cause.

“It’s a big relief,” he said. “Coming into a new team, you want to put up early and show the boys you’re here and you mean business.”

The rough play ignited two fights in the first period. Sudbury forward Nathan Pancel had a short scrap with Trevor Murphy. Moments later, Sudbury forward Jonathon Masters took on hulking defender Logan Stanley in what was a toe-to-toe brawl in which both combatants threw savage blows for around a minute.

It only inspired the Wolves to play harder. They were fine with that.

“We went out and set the tone,” Heffernan said. “We were really physical. There was a couple of fights that really set the tone for us.”

The Wolves didn’t change a thing for the second and third periods, and continued their relentless style. It was obvious they could taste victory and were not going to be denied.

The Wolves worked a power play in the second period to perfection which lead to a big blast from forward Matt Schmalz, who was parked in the circle, and his shot eluded Fotinos to make it 2-0 at 2:15.

In the third frame, the Wolves kept their feet on the proverbial gas pedal and hung on for the win despite some serious push-back from the Spitfires.
Sudbury veteran Danny Desrochers iced the win with an empty-net goal to make the final 3-0.

When the final buzzer sounded, the players leaped over the boards and swarmed goalie Troy Timpano. It was for good reasons. One, Timpano stole the game for the team by making 43 saves, including 18 in the third period when Windsor was trying everything to mount a comeback. Second, it marked his first career OHL shut-out. Timpano showed his modest side at the conclusion of the game and deflected the praise to his teammates.

“It’s a good win for us,” Timpano said. “They were outstanding. I couldn’t ask for any more help than they did. They helped me. I have to thank them for getting my first shut-out.”

The win didn’t happen because the Wolves got a bunch of lucky bounces and breaks. The win came about from good old fashion sweat, blood and tears. Fixter has been frustrated lately with recent losses stemming from poor play in one period or another. It was not the case tonight. From start to finish, the Wolves played for keeps.

“It was a 60-minute effort,” Fixter said. “From the drop of the puck, the team was ready. They played hard and they got rewarded for it.”

Sudbury is back on the ice Saturday when the team hosts the Kingston Frontenacs. Game time at Sudbury Community Arena is 7 p.m.

Game notes

The three stars of the game were: Troy Timpano (first), Chad Heffernan (second) and Nathan Pancel (third).
Sudbury scratched Brody Milne, Pavel Jenys and Brody Silk.
Windsor scratched Markus Soberg and Ryan Foss.
Sudbury killed off all eight Windsor power play opportunities.
Sudbury went 1-for-6 on the power play.