Akil Thomas Propels IceDogs to Victory in Sudbury!

The Niagara IceDogs paid a visit to the Sudbury Wolves this afternoon in the first of a two game Thanksgiving road trip through Northern Ontario.

The IceDogs jumped on the Wolves early and often as Chris Paquette opened the scoring at 6:40 of the first period on assists from Matthew Philip and Ondrej Machala. Less than a minute later, Johnny Corneil strengthened the lead to 2-0 on a terrific heads-up play by Graham Knott and Drew Hunter. The onslaught continued as Kyle Langdon made it 3-0 at 14:54 on a point shot from William Lochead and Ondrej Machala. After chasing the Wolves starting goalie out of the net, the IceDogs showed no mercy whatsoever as Machala notched his first career OHL goal on assists from Corneil and Knott to give the Dogs a 4-0 lead. The IceDogs maintained that lead into the first intermission with confidence at an all time high.

The second period offered a continued pattern of run-and-gun hockey as the Wolves clawed back to tie the game at 4 heading into the third.

The final period of the game represented a winner-takes-all opportunity as both teams imposed their will on the other in the opening two periods. Both teams tightened up defensively, sending the game to overtime after a 4-4 regulation tie.

Late in the overtime period, Akil Thomas was tripped on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. Thomas took a fast, straight-line route to the net, faking forehand before pulling the puck to his backhand and over the shoulder of the Wolves goaltender to propel the IceDogs to a 5-4 overtime victory.

The IceDogs finish their Thanksgiving road trip on Monday in North Bay. Puck drops at 2:00 p.m.

Courtyard by Marriott Niagara Falls shots on goal:

Niagara: 36

Sudbury: 43

Big Marco’s Pizza Three Stars of the Game:

1st star: Kyle Capobianco (SBY)

2nd star: Ryan Valentini (SBY)

3rd star: Ondrej Machala