Wolves stun Battalion in Sudbury

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SUDBURY, Ont. — Landon McCallum scored on the power play at 10:18 in the third period to lead the Sudbury Wolves to a 3-2 win over North Bay Battalion on Friday night, earning a split of the home-and-home win of the Ontario Hockey League Series teams.

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David Goyette and Alex Pharand also scored while goaltender Nate Krawchuk made an outstanding performance with 31 saves for Sudbury, who have a record of 11-17-3 for 25 points, fourth in the Central Division.

Wolves, who decked out 11 forwards and seven defenders, were without coach Derek MacKenzie, who was suspended with Nathan Villeneuve for actions in the previous game.

Anthony Romani and Nikita Tarasevich, the latter with a penalty, scored for North Bay while goaltender Dom DiVincentiis took on Krawchuk in heroic deeds, making 29 stops in front of a crowd of 3,413.

The battalion, which is halfway through its schedule, is first in the division 23-10-1 for 47 points. The Troops won 7-3 at Memorial Gardens on Wednesday night.

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Sudbury, 1-2 down for 40 minutes, scored twice in the third period, 5:02 apart, triggered by Pharand at 5:16 when he tapped a shielded right foot shot from Matthew Mania. The goal was Pharand’s 15th of the season.

After Pasquale Zito served up a rough call that depended heavily on Quentin Musty’s makeover, McCallum put a right point shot through traffic and scored his sixth goal.

Dalyn Wakely missed a rebound before firing a shot and was hit with a high-stick penalty when the follow-through touched the outstretched Krawchuk at 12:54. The Sudbury goaltender traded the rest of the way with DiVincentii’s big saves before the visitor was drawn ineffective for a sixth skater.

Penalty taker Tarasevich was awarded the penalty when he was hooked by Pharand on a breakaway at 10:26 of the second period. Tarasevich swept into the net from the left and put a forehand deke on Krawchuk for a ninth goal of the season.

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There were a number of penalties in the latter stages of the third, with Wolves notable for a blind shot at Tarasevich by Djibril Toure at 12:23 and a spearing major and misconduct against Andre Anania at 16:36.

The teams traded goals in the first half, with Sudbury, as in all three meetings, opening the scoring when Goyette leveled the ball at 6:39 from assists from Kocha Delic and Mania. It was Goyette’s team-leading 22nd goal.

Romani responded with his 11th goal at 14:28 after a rush, converting a backhand pass from Ethan Procyszyn off the backboards. Luc Brzustowski had the other assist for his first point in four games since a trade from the Soo Greyhounds on Dec. 7.

With North Bay on the power play after Goyette received a roughing penalty at 5:15 p.m., DiVincentiis was knocked down in the crease by Ethan Larmand without a call.

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The battalion will host the Oshawa Generals in the traditional New Year’s Eve game at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Troops will wear white-based Centurion-style uniforms for the first time.

BATTALION BULLETS: It was the teams’ third of eight meetings after the Battalion won 7-4 at Sudbury on Nov. 30 … Villeneuve, the third overall winner in April’s OHL Priority Selection, drew a two-game suspension, because he left the bench to fight Alexander Lukin on Wednesday night. MacKenzie was suspended for two games for not being able to control his player. His father, assistant Ken MacKenzie, ran the Sudbury bank…Ty Nelson and Owen Van Steensel each played their 100th game since being selected by the battalion in the 2020 Priority Selection. Nelson, first overall pick, has 18 goals and 72 assists for 90 points, while Van Steensel, a fourth-round pick, has 17 goals and 32 assists for 49 points… The battalion went 0 for 4 on the power play. Sudbury was 1- to-5 … North Bay’s Kyle Jackson saw the end of a career-high 13-game point streak in which he had 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points, while Josh Bloom had a career-high 11-game point streak in which he had 13 goals and seven assists scored for 20 points ended… The battalion was without Tnias Mathurin, Brayden Turley, Avery Winslow, Kyle McDonald and Brett Bouchard… Musty had halted an 18-game point streak, the longest run in the OHL to date. He had seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points along the way… Goyette has a nine-game streak in which he has eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points.