Wolves Drop Divisional Matchup Sunday
The Sudbury Wolves travelled down Highway 17 Sunday to pay a final visit to the North Bay Memorial Gardens this regular season where they faced-off against their Northern rivals, the North Bay Battalion. In a challenging battle, the Wolves fell by a 4-2 with final shots on goal 48-30 in favour of Sudbury. Wolves lone goal scorers were Adam Ruzicka and Quinton Byfield. Blake Murray, Peter Stratis, Macauley Carson and Cole Candella each earned an assist.
It was a low scoring first period as both squads were evenly matched. Adam Ruzicka was a powerhouse, scoring the first goal of the afternoon, just under five minutes in to give Sudbury a 1-0 lead. He came rushing in on Christian Propp’s glove side and beat him blocker side. Harrison Caines matched the Wolves’ goal after he shot from a near impossible angle to beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The game was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
The North Bay Battalion came out playing a more physical game in the second period which included Daniel Walker knocking Cole Candella to his knees forcing him to head to the dressing room. Brad Chenier gave the Troops a 2-1 lead after he took a pass from Mitchell Russell and fired one in high to beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen glove side.
In the final frame, Cole Candella returned to ice where he earned a helper on the game tying goal. Quinton Byfield tied the game up at 2 when he launched in a rocket shot on Christian Propp to beat him high glove side. Macauley Carson also earned an assist on the goal. With roughly 5 minutes remaining in the game, Mitchell Russell was sent on a breakaway. Luukkonen made the initial save but the puck deflected in off of Russell’s shin pad. In the dying minutes of the game, Luukkonen received the nod to head to the Wolves bench for the extra-attacker. A couple of unlucky turnovers led to Luke Burghardt extending the Troops lead by scoring on the empty net. The final buzzer sounded, leaving the Wolves to fall by a 4-2 final.
The Sudbury Wolves will return to action against the Soo Greyhounds for another rare Wednesday night matchup between the two rivals. Puck drop is set for 7:05pm at the Sudbury Community Arena. Great seats are still available for purchase online at sudburywolves.com.
Following Wednesday’s game, the Wolves will hit the road for the weekend,making stops in Niagara and Hamilton. The Wolves will take on the IceDogs on Friday at 7:00pm and the Bulldogs on Saturday at 4:00pm. Fans can follow the action by tuning in to CKLU 96.7 or listening to mixlr.com/sudburywolves.
