Wolves win in overtime
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Macauley Carson scored at 1:17 of overtime to lift the Sudbury Wolves to a 4-3 comeback victory over the North Bay Battalion in an Ontario Hockey League game Wednesday night.
Brad Chenier scored two goals and added one assist and Owen Gilhula also scored for Sudbury, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 31-26-1 for 63 points atop the Central Division. Goaltender David Bowen made 30 saves, and Carson also provided an assist.
Sudbury, which trailed three times, was without leading scorer Quinton Byfield, who lost an eighth straight game to a wrist injury.
Alex Christopoulos scored two goals and Luke Moncada one for North Bay, 14-39-4 for 32 points, fifth and last in the division. Goaltender Joe Vrbetic faced 33 shots before a crowd of 1,921. The Troops completed a four-game home stand, their longest of the season, in which they went 2-1-1.
“It was tough once again to get to overtime and come out on the wrong end of things,” said interim coach Ryan Oulahen. “It always stings, because you feel like you put in a good effort for 60 minutes. I was very happy with our start. We were engaged and ready to go. We were taking it to them and for 60 minutes really stuck to our identity pretty well.
“I liked the way we played without the puck. We limited their chances and did a really good job in being aggressive in the offensive zone and keeping pucks alive. We generated quite a bit of offence, and their goalie made some good saves. But that’s the type of game we want to play. If we continue to do that, the results are going to come.”
Moncada opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period when his shot from a sharp angle to Bowen’s right deflected off the goaltender’s left leg into the net. Christian Stevens earned his first OHL point with the lone assist on Moncada’s team-leading 33rd goal of the season.
The Battalion, which enjoyed three power plays in the period, outshot Sudbury 10-5. Moncada, Shane Bulitka and Liam Arnsby tested Bowen, while Vrbetic parried a David Levin drive off the right wing and challenged Landon McCallum’s shot from the left-wing circle.
Chenier tied it at 8:59 of the second period, jamming the puck inside the right post, before Christopoulos gave the Troops a 2-1 lead at 16:13, ripping Bulitka’s pass across the goalmouth past a sprawling Bowen. Josh Currie earned the second assist.
Each team recorded 11 shots in the frame. Moncada, Christopoulos and Kyle Jackson had good chances, while Christopoulos just missed converting an Arnsby pass while driving to the net in the 14th minute. Vrbetic, who was sharp on a Carson blast from the deep slot, denied a Blake Murray effort off the right wing in the final seconds.
Gilhula connected at 7:00 of the third period, redirecting a screened right-point shot by Emmett Serensits before a strange sequence gave the Battalion its last lead.
Christopoulos fired the puck over Bowen’s left shoulder at 9:53, with the goal light activated, but referee Carter Sandlak waved off the play. Action continued until 12:10 when, with the Wolves advancing the puck, the buzzer sounded. Video review had shown that the disc entered the net. Currie and Arnsby assisted on the 11th goal by Christopoulos, who has four in a three-game scoring run.
Vrbetic lost track of the rebound of a Chase Stillman shot from the left wing, and Chenier drilled the puck home from the right faceoff dot at 15:44 to precipitate overtime. It was Chenier’s 24th goal on the season and his fifth since a Jan. 9 trade from North Bay.
Sudbury had the only three shots in overtime, with Carson claiming the winner when he blasted a backhanded Chenier pass behind Vrbetic.
The Battalion opens its last two-game road trip against the Erie Otters at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.
BATTALION BULLETS: Subway Night, with mascot Subman in attendance, saw fans receive free water bottles and win gift cards in draws. Sarge shot T-shirts into the stands, and two fans competed in a shootout for gift cards. One row won coupons for six-inch subs, and coupons and temporary tattoos were awarded … North Bay is 2-4-1 after seven of eight season meetings. The final head-to-head clash is March 17 at Sudbury … Moncada has a 12-game points streak in which he has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points. Keeping the streak alive, Moncada was credited with an assist, at Avery Winslow’s expense, on a Bulitka goal in a 6-3 home-ice loss Sunday to the Saginaw Spirit … The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Sudbury was 0-for-2 … Opening lines featured Moncada centring left winger Harrison Caines and right winger Brandon Coe, Bulitka pivoting left winger Jackson and right winger Chad Denault and Arnsby centring left winger Currie and right winger Christopoulos. Centre Stevens and left winger David Campbell had various linemates … The Battalion was without Ty Hollett, Mason Primeau, Braden Henderson and Mitchell Russell, still sidelined after a check from behind by Merrick Rippon of the visiting Ottawa 67’s in a 6-2 win last Thursday night. Rippon received a six-game suspension … Mitchell Weeks backed up Bowen … Alex Ross was the other referee.
