Two-goal outburst propels Wolves to win
SUDBURY, Ont. – Eddy Leitans-Rinke and John McFarland scored in the final minute of the second period to power the Sudbury Wolves to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Friday night over the Brampton Battalion.
John Kurtz and Marcus Foligno also scored for Sudbury, which moved into a third-place tie with the Battalion in the Central Division. Goaltender Alain Valiquette made 32 saves as the Wolves, who have a game in hand on the Troops, moved their won-lost-extended record to 16-19-5 for 37 points.
Thomas Stajan and Scott Tanski scored for the Battalion, 14-18-9, while goaltender Patrick Killeen faced 26 shots.
The Troops, who have lost six of their last seven road games and five of their last six overall, haven’t won on the road since a 2-1 victory Dec. 19 over the Sarnia Sting. The Battalion’s last win was a 4-1 verdict Dec. 31 over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.
The Battalion outshot Sudbury 16-4 in the scoreless third period in a vain attempt to climb back to even terms, with Stajan probably coming closest to scoring midway in the frame, but Valiquette was up to the task of foiling a comeback. The Troops iced six attackers for the final 1:58 and were on the power play for the final 1:15.
Leitans-Rinke broke a 2-2 tie at 19:31 of the second period, cashing the rebound of a shot by Kain Allicock, and McFarland scored 26 seconds later, charging down the left wing and beating Killeen high to the glove side.
The score was deadlocked 1-1 when Foligno connected at 13:05 of the period, taking a pass from Steve Reese from behind the goal line and converting from close range.
Tanski, with his fifth goal of the season, tied it 37 seconds later, cruising clockwise behind the net and jamming the puck home from the right post. Ken Peroff and rookie Zach Bell, with his first OHL point, earned the assists.
Sam Carrick fought Foligno at 15:18 after the latter charged Philip Lane at the Sudbury bench. The fight came less than a minute after the linesmen intervened promptly to preempt a scrap between Matt Clark and the Wolves’ Daniel Maggio, who drew misconducts.
The teams exchanged power-play goals in the first period, with Kurtz opening the scoring at 4:09 as Tanski served a minor for checking from behind. Eric O’Dell fired a crisp pass through the crease to Kurtz at the back door on the right wing.
Stajan tied it at 16:41 with Kyle Tarini off for roughing. Carrick, deep on the right wing, fed the puck in front, and the charging Stajan arrived at the left post in time to chip the disc home.
It was Stajan’s sixth goal of the season and 100th point since a Jan. 9, 2007, trade from the Owen Sound Attack. Stajan has 47 goals and 53 assists in 195 games with the Battalion.
Killeen got his catching glove on a power-play drive by McFarland in the ninth minute, sending the puck over the net, and made a big right-pad save against Tarini in the 10th. Valiquette survived a 15th-minute Battalion flurry capped by an Ian Watters shot from a sharp angle on the left side.
Maggio blatantly knocked the Sudbury net loose in defending against a rush by Lane, taking a delay-of-game penalty in the final minute of the period to offset an earlier holding call against Clark.
Battalion scratches were Ben Alavie, Craig Moore and Cody Hodgson. Sudbury scratched Andrew Loverock, Gregory Jambrosich, Daniel Lombardi and Matias Sointu.
The Battalion hosts Mississauga at 2 p.m. Sunday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance at the Sudbury Community Arena was 4,099 … The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Sudbury, which won for the first time in three games since beating the visiting Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-2 on Dec. 29, was 1-for-5 … Opening line combinations included Carrick centring left winger Stephon Thorne and right winger Lane, Stajan pivoting left winger Sean Jones and right winger Tanski and Domenic Alberga centring left winger Watters and right winger Matt MacLeod. Barclay Goodrow centred left winger Alex O’Neil and right winger Shane Kinsella … Killeen, who made a 15th consecutive appearance, leads OHL goaltenders in minutes played with 2,235 over 38 games. The club record for consecutive games played in goal is 20, by Bryan Pitton in 2006-07 … Peroff had two assists, pushing his team-leading total to 17 … Lane had a three-game points streak ended. He had two goals and four assists for six points in the run … Reese, who turns 21 on Saturday, has one goal and 10 assists for 11 points in a nine-game points streak … Left winger Sointu played for Finland at the 2010 World Junior Championship … Loverock was injured in a 4-3 overtime loss Dec. 31 at Sault Ste. Marie. Valiquette’s backup was Nick McMullen, an 18-year-old who plays for the Sudbury Junior Wolves of the Northern Ontario Junior League … Tarini returned after losing three games to a lower-body injury … The Wolves have won the first four meetings in the eight-game season series. In the Troops’ last visit Dec. 4, Sudbury scored two goals in the final minute of the third period en route to a 5-4 win via shootout. The Wolves host the Battalion again Jan. 23.
