Winnipeg Thrashers
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Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves
4
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THRASHERS WRAP UP TOP SPOT WITH WIN OVER WOLVES It might be the easiest game-winning goal Mark Stone will ever score. Knowing that nothing less than a win would be good enough for top spot, Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves head coach Peter Michelutti Jr. pulled goaltender Landon Noel in the dying seconds of a 4-4 tie and Stone hit the empty net to give the Winnipeg Thrashers a 5-4 win on Friday. The victory gives Winnipeg a perfect round-robin record – the third straight West Region champion to go 5-0 at the TELUS Cup – and first place, and sets up a semi-final match-up (Saturday ay 2:00 p.m. ET) with the fourth-place finisher – one of Ottawa Valley, Cole Harbour and Séminaire Saint-François. The Wolves suffered their first loss of the National Midget Championship and will face the Calgary Buffaloes in Saturday’s late semi-final (7:30 p.m. ET). The Central Region representatives got off to a quick start, as Deven Stillar scooped up a loose puck in front of Winnipeg netminder Joey Rewucki and put it home for a 1-0 Sudbury lead. That lead stood through the first 20 minutes, despite the Thrashers holding a massive 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. Craig Laliberte pushed the lead to 2-0 just 4:49 into the second period, intercepting a pass at the Winnipeg blueline and snapping a shot under the arm of Rewucki, but the Thrashers’ vaunted powerplay got them on the board just 48 seconds later, as Stone tipped a Nolan Zajac point shot past Noel. The early comeback was complete just past the 13-minute mark, as David Conrad converted on another powerplay, taking advantage of a Noel mistake behind the net to score into an empty net. The teams traded powerplay goals in the final minutes of the second period – P.J. Taus scored for Sudbury, while Conrad replied with his second man advantage marker of the period for Winnipeg – sending the game to the dressing room tied 3-3. With the Thrashers on another powerplay to begin the third period – they had 13 opportunities, compared to nine for the Wolves – it was Sudbury who would strike, as Stefan Herrington redirected a centering pass from captain Mathieu Lecours past Rewucki to restore the one-goal lead. Facing just their second loss in 58 games the Thrashers turned to their captain, as Mathew Bodie sent a seeing-eye shot from the blueline over the shoulder of Noel to tie the game at 4-4, setting up Stone’s winner, which was another powerplay goal. Conrad took home player of the game honours for the Thrashers, while Devin Lockeyer was the recipient for the Wolves. |
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