Mrazek fed to the Wolves in 5-3 loss

BY: KATHRYN JEAN

SUDBURY – Andrey Kuchin had a pair of goals and an assist to lead the Sudbury Wolves to 5-3 victory over the Ottawa 67’s. The Wolves top line continues to dominate tallying a combined total of 24 points in 2 games.

The story of the game was not Kuchin and his linemates, but rather the stellar play of Ottawa netminder Petr Mrazek. After allowing 7 goals on 28 shots in game one, Mrazek bounced back with an outstanding performance stopping 48 of 53 shots fired his way in a losing effort. Mrazek kept his team in the game giving them a chance to win, without him, the score would have been much more lopsided for the Wolved.

Mike Lomas got the first goal of the game at the 10:02 minute mark of the first period just as the powerplay expired. Michael Scarbossa found Lomas out front as he shot the puck from the top of the faceoff circle and beat Mrazek high stick side. With less than a minute left in the opening period, Dalton Smith threaded a pass to Sean Monahan who was left alone on the door step and flipped the puck past Alain Valiquette to even up the score.

The Wolves outshot the 67’s 17-6 in the opening frame and continued to dominate the play in the second. With Julian Luciani in the box, Andrey Kuchin got his first of the game after deflecting a strange angled pass from Frank Corrado. Despite being outshot 33-13 after 40 minutes, the 67’s managed to keep a 2-2 tie thanks to a Josh McFadden turnover that led to a Tyler Toffoli’s shorthanded goal with 10 seconds remaining in the period.

In the third period, Scarbossa gave the Wolves the lead by finding open ice and letting go a quick wrist shot that finds its way behind Mrazek. Just over a minute later Charlie Dodero gets awarded with a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway. Dodero goes high stick side on Mrazek to get the Wolves an insurance goal. The 67’s tried to rally after Marc Zanetti scored the team’s second short-handed goal of the game, but that’s all they could manage as Andrey Kuchin scored his second of the game late to seal the deal for the Wolves.

Game 3 is tomorrow in Sudbury at 7:30pm. It is a must game win game for the 67’s as they could see themselves going down 3-0 when the game returns to Ottawa on Thursday night for game 4.