Brampton might not be making the playoffs but that didn’t stop them from handing Sudbury a 6-3 loss

The Sudbury Wolves might have claimed the eighth and final playoff spot in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, but that didn’t stop them from losing 6-3 to the no-longer-in-playoff-contention Brampton Steelheads in a road game yesterday.

The Steelheads came away with the 6-3 victory, causing the Wolves to fall to a record of 26 wins, 38 regulation losses, and two overtime losses with two games left to play in the regular season.

Paolo Frasca was the starting goaltender on the road for the Sudbury Wolves while Zach Bowen got the home start for the Brampton Steelheads.

Just over five minutes into the first period, Ty Daniels scored his second goal of the season with a scrambled play right in front of Frasca, assisted by Sam Black and Lachlan Larmand, putting Brampton in front 1-0.

At the 11:34 mark of the opening period, with Sudbury’s Genc Ula serving a minor penalty for interference, Mason Roy scored on the power play, his fourth goal of the season, with a shot from the left faceoff circle, assisted by Keaton Ardagh and Peter Green, giving the Steelheads a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Just 2:21 into the second, Owen Cartwright scored his third goal of the season with a slap shot from the high slot area, assisted by William Eggleton and Matej Stankoven, giving the Steelheads a comfortable 3-0 lead.

With David Green serving a minor penalty for tripping at the 7:29 mark of the middle frame, Julian DeMiglio scored short-handed on a breakaway, his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Peter Green, increasing Brampton’s lead to 4-0.

After the fourth Steelheads goal, Wolves Head Coach Scott Barney put Bjorn Bronas in net in place of Frasca.

At the 12:02 mark of the second period, Stankoven scored his eighth goal of the season on another breakaway, assisted by Ardagh, giving Brampton a sizable 5-0 lead.

Just a minute and two seconds later, the Wolves finally got on the scoreboard with Jan Chovan’s 27th goal of the season, a backhand shot past Bowen, assisted by Daniel Berehowsky and Adam Nemec, making the score 5-1 for the Steelheads heading into the third period.

With 6:05 remaining in the third, and with Troy Patton serving a minor penalty for high sticking, Adam Nemec scored on the power play, goal No. 13 on the season, with a shot on a wide open net after Chovan’s initial chance, assisted by Jean-Christoph Lemieux and and Berehowsky, cutting Brampton’s lead to 5-2.

Sudbury made the score even closer at the 15:21 mark of the third period with Artem Gonchar’s 15th goal of the season, a shot from the defensive point, assisted by Chovan, cutting Brampton’s lead to 5-3.

The Steelheads sealed the victory at the 17:27 mark of the third, with an empty net goal scored by Stankoven, his second goal of the game, assisted by Green and Carter Hicks, for a final score of 6-3.

The Pack returns home on Friday for a rematch against Brampton, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Then, the regular season wraps up with a 2 p.m. matinee match on Sunday in North Bay against the Battalion.

Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].