Wolves Get Back in Win Column Against Spitfires
The Sudbury Wolves pulled out a 4-3 victory at the WFCU Centre in Windsor Thursday night as they took on the Spitfires in the first game of the weekend. Two goals from Drake Pilon led the charge, with additional goals coming from Liam Ross and Nolan Hutcheson.
A quick start for the Spitfires saw the home team score two goals in the first four minutes of the game. Mathew MacDougall and Curtis Douglas both beat Marshall Frappier to give the Spitfires a 2-0 lead. Following the goal, the Wolves went on to score four unanswered goals starting with a nice goal from Drake Pilon as he sent a quick wrist shot over Michael DiPietro. With time winding down in the period, Liam Ross released a quick shot from the point that was redirected off of a Spitfires skate and into the net. The rookie defenseman’s second goal of the season came with 9.9 seconds left in the period. The teams went into the dressing room tied at 2, with the Wolves leading on the shot clock 11-4.
Drake Pilon was the only goal scorer of the second period as he took a pass from Blake Murray who was in behind the net to give the Wolves their first lead of the game. The goal came as Drake’s 12th of the season with assists going to both Murray and Shane Bulitka.
In the third period, Luke Boka sent a quick shot past Frappier that looked as though the Spitfires tied the game at 3. After an extensive review and lengthy delay on the game, the referees called back the goal due to a four-minute high-sticking penalty that occurred against the Spitfires 40 seconds before the goal. The call comes in accordance with the OHL’s rule of acknowledgement of a linesman recognizing the high-sticking that led to the goal, trumping Boka’s goal. The clock was turned back and play continued. Nolan Hutcheson extended the lead for the Wolves as he drove hard to the net to beat DiPietro off a great play from Kirill Nizhnikov. The Spitfires added one goal from Luke Kutkevicius, but the Wolves would hold them off to take a 4-3 victory. Final shots on net were 27-24 in favour of the Wolves.
Drake Pilon was named the first star of the night for his two goal performance. After a solid game from David Levin, he was named the third star of the game.
The Wolves will continue their road swing on Saturday night in Michigan when they take on the Flint Firebirds at 7:00 pm. Fans can follow the action by tuning in to CKLU 96.7 or listening to mixlr.com/sudburywolves. Fans can also tune in to Eastlink Channel 10 or HD610 to watch the game live.
