Wolves Bite Battalion in Sudbury

Kocha Delic scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist to pace the Sudbury Wolves to a 3-1 victory over the North Bay Battalion in Ontario Hockey League action Friday night.

Chase Coughlan and Nathan Villeneuve contributed a goal apiece and goaltender Nate Krawchuk made 27 saves for Sudbury, which won 4-3 in overtime Sunday at North Bay in its previous outing.

The Wolves have a won-lost-extended record of 7-4-0 for 14 points, tied with the Barrie Colts, who defeated the host Brampton Steelheads 6-4, for third place in the Central Division, one point behind the Battalion.

Lirim Amidovski scored for North Bay while goaltender Mike McIvor provided 34 saves. The Battalion, which defeated the visiting Ottawa 67’s 3-2 Thursday night, is 7-5-1 for 15 points, three behind the first-place Niagara IceDogs, who posted a 4-3 road win over the Sarnia Sting.

The Battalion, which trailed 2-1 through 40 minutes and saw Bronson Ride make a stick save at the goal line with McIvor out of position in the fourth minute of the third period, failed to score on a power play after Ethan Dean went off for tripping at 5:23.

The Troops ran into penalty trouble in the final 10 minutes, as Aaron Enright was called for tripping to foil a breakaway attempt at 11:53. Ride was called for roughing at 12:00, when Villeneuve drew a double minor for high-sticking, but Jacob Therrien received a slashing penalty at 15:07.

After coincidental roughing minors to Shamar Moses and Sudbury’s Alex Pharand at 16:24, the Battalion pulled McIvor for a sixth attacker at 18:04, but Ethan Procyszyn was assessed a double minor for high-sticking on a faceoff at 18:26.

That set the stage for Villeneuve’s drive across the net front for his second goal of the season at 19:48 to secure the Wolves’ win, and the Troops finished the game still shorthanded.

Penalty killer Delic gave Sudbury a 2-0 lead at 13:09 of the middle period. Coughlan was called for roughing at 11:13 before Delic took a centring pass from Pharand and snapped the puck home from between the hash marks with four seconds left in the minor.

Amidovski replied at 16:07 on a charge down the right wing. Wyatt Kennedy chipped the puck to Amidovski in the defensive zone, and he outraced Gavin Ewles to score his fourth goal from the right circle.

Coughlan, who backhanded the puck just left of the post from the crease when set up alone in the seventh minute of the second period, struck on the power play at 15:56 of the first frame, nine seconds after Therrien went off for roughing. Coughlan cashed the rebound off the end boards of a right-point shot by Nick DeAngelis. Delic had the other assist on Coughlan’s team-leading eighth goal.

Natan Teshome and the Wolves’ Tayjon Street tangled at 14:23, with each receiving a fighting major, and Ride and Hudson Chitaroni drew roughing calls at 19:43.

The Battalion plays host to the Kingston Frontenacs at 2 p.m. Sunday on Redpath Mining Day. Photo/article credit - North Bay Battalion

BATTALION BULLETS: Attendance at the Sudbury Community Arena on Country Night was 3,112 … Amidovski topped the Troops with five shots on goal. Delic and Villeneuve paced the Wolves with six each … The Battalion went 0-for-5 on the power play. Sudbury was 2-for-7 … North Bay is 4-4-0 on the road. Sudbury is 3-2-0 at home … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Owen Van Steensel and right winger Moses, Andrew LeBlanc skating between left winger Teshome and right winger Therrien and Ryder Carey centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Amidovski. Dylan Richter centred left winger Reyth Smith and right winger Stepan Chukharev … Defence pairings were Ride with Kennedy, Brayden Turley with Jacob LeBlanc and Enright with Kent Greer … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Ihnat Pazii, Anthony Romani and Zach Wilson … Kieron Walton, who had two goals and two assists in Sudbury’s win at Memorial Gardens, assisted on Villeneuve’s goal for his only point in the rematch … Pharand played his 200th OHL game, all but 23 of them with Sudbury after being a first-round pick, 14th overall, in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection by the Hamilton Bulldogs … Among the missing for the Wolves were Daks Klinkhammer and Quentin Musty, who remains at home in Hamburg, N.Y., awaiting a trade. Musty was sent back by the San Jose Sharks, who made him a first-round choice in the National Hockey League Draft in 2023 … Blake Beer and Matt Cairns were the referees.