Following a 2-5 loss in Guelph last night, the Wolves were looking to rebound from a game in which the Storm scored four unanswered goals in the first two periods. And though he played the night before, goaltender Johan Mattsson didn’t look tired, despite this game being the eighth straight he’s started in net.

The first period started slow for both teams, with a number of turnovers committed by both Niagara and Sudbury. The second half of the period showed strong defensive play by the IceDogs, as they fended off a Wolves’ offensive. When Steven Shipley was called for high sticking at 14:49 and just 1:25 later, captain Andrew Agozzino was sent to the box for holding, Sudbury threw some shots on net during their 35 seconds of 5-3 play, but the IceDogs and Mark Visentin kept the puck away out of the goal.

The beginning of the second period was mostly spent in Sudbury’s zone; the IceDogs were able to muster some quality chances, none of which made it to the back of the net. However, 4:06 into the period, the Wolves’ Josh Leivo deflected a Frank Corrado shot from the far point while in front of Visentin’s net for his seventh of the season.

The Sudbury defense corps played extremely well in front of their net, making sure that a limited number of shots made it through to Mattsson. But the IceDogs finally got a break when, with 3:53 left in the period, Ryan Strome and Freddie Hamilton were part of a two-on-one breakaway. Strome carried the puck into Sudbury’s zone and, when in front of the Wolves’ net, passed it across the crease to Hamilton, who had a wide open net. Freddie’s 10^th goal of the season knotted the score at one. The IceDogs’ lone goal in the second was one of 17 shots in the period.

While the third period saw a bushel of quality chances generated by the IceDogs, as evident in the game’s shots-on-goal numbers (in the third period, shots were IceDogs: 15, Sudbury: 4), the scored remained constant. And though the IceDogs got a break with two-and-a-half minutes left in regulation when Sudbury’s bench was called for too many men on the ice, nothing was to come of the power play and the game was sent into overtime and eventually, a shootout.

Mitchell Theoret was up first and approached Mattsson with a heavy shot at the goaltender’s right pad, which deflected into the net behind the goal. Sudbury’s first shooter was Mathew Campagna, whose two shootout goals are tied for first in the league. A deke by the Mississauga native caught Visentin off-guard and Campagna easily slid it into the net. The IceDogs’ second shooter was the team’s only goal scorer for the night, Freddie Hamilton, who attempted a similar move on Mattsson but to no avail. Andrey Kuchin was next in line for Sudbury and went five-hole on Visentin, but the shot was easily slapped away by Visentin. The IceDogs third and final shooter was overager Alex Friesen, who tipped the puck over Mattsson’s left shoulder with success, as it dinged off the near-side post and in. But the Wolves had the last laugh, as Michael Sgarbossa performed a nice stick-handling move that slid underneath Visentin’s pads. The game marks Sudbury’s third shootout win of the season.

Scoreboard
2. 4:06 SBY Leivo (7), (Corrado)
2. 16:07 NIAG F. Hamilton (10), (Strome, Pacan)

Shootout
Theoret - Miss
Campagna - Goal
F. Hamilton - Miss
Kuchin - Miss
Friesen - Goal
Sgarbossa - Goal


- Jen Heisel, Media Relations