Sudbury bounces back with victory

Tuesday, April 03, 2012   by: Brad Coccimiglio

The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves bounced back on Tuesday at the 2012 Central Region Midget AAA Championships.

After a 7-1 loss to the Mississauga Rebels on Monday, the Wolves came back with a 6-3 win over the London Jr. Knights on Tuesday afternoon at the Essar Centre. The Wolves scored three unanswered goals in the third period after the Knights had battled back to tie the game at three.

“We were definitely a lot better today,” said Wolves coach Peter Michelutti Jr. “We had a meeting last night with the kids and we told them, that wasn’t the team we are. We didn’t move our feet and we weren’t moving the puck. That was the emphasis for today was to keep moving the puck and to move their feet and get the puck in deep and use our speed. It definitely showed today as we created a lot more chances.”

The Knights fell behind 3-1 through 40 minutes before scoring a pair of goals in the opening five minutes of the third period to tie the game at three before surrendering the lead again to the Wolves.

“I don’t think we were fully ready to play,” said London coach Chuck Defton. “Sudbury was looking for their first win so they came out and played hard. We had a couple of opportunities and there were a couple of goals I’d like to see back.”

After London tied the game at three, the Wolves retook the lead 90 seconds later but the Knights took the play to the Wolves before Michelutti took a timeout with just over four minutes left on the clock. In the moments after the timeout, the Wolves scored a pair of insurance goals to seal the win.

“I shortened our bench in the third period when we were protecting the lead and we were definitely on our heels,” Michelutti said. “London was definitely pushing us and that’s why I took the early timeout. We were a little tired.”

Ryan Erickson scored a pair of goals for the Wolves in the win while Peter Poulin-Roy, Michael Laidley, August Jerecki and Josh Moore also scored for the Wolves in the win.

Chris Carreiro scored a pair of goals for the Knights in the loss while Mackenzie Dick added a pair of assists. Wes Baker had the other goal for the Knights. Graeme Lauersen got the start for the Knights but was pulled after Moore’s goal in the second period. Nik Dampier, who started the Knights game on Monday against the Soo North Stars but was injured during the game, came in but couldn’t finish off the game for the Knights.

The Knights are back in action on Wednesday when they face the Ottawa Jr. 67’s at 9:30 a.m. Sudbury faces the Whitby Wildcats on Wednesday at 12;30 p.m.