2008 National U18 Club Championship

WOLVES SCORE LATE TO PULL OUT TIE WITH BUFFALOES

Denis Restoule scored the game-tying goal with just under nine minutes remaining as the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves remained unbeaten at the 2008 TELUS Cup after a 2-2 draw with the Calgary Buffaloes on Tuesday.

The tie leaves the Wolves and the Winnipeg Thrashers – who are 2-0 – as the only unbeaten teams remaining at this year’s National Midget Championship. Those two teams will meet Friday in the round-robin finale for both.

After scoring three times in their tournament-opening win over Ottawa Valley on Monday night, it was the Wolves’ powerplay that got them on the board against the Buffaloes, as Deven Stillar redirected a Ryan Johnston point shot past Calgary goaltender Kris Moore.

The Buffaloes took just 1:42 to reply on a powerplay of their own, as player of the game Brody Sutter stepped out from the corner and snuck a backhand past Sudbury netminder Landon Noel, sending the game to the intermission tied 1-1.

The Pacific Region representatives controlled the play in the middle frame, and took their first lead of the tournament when Adam Thompson snuck a point shot through the legs of Noel on another Calgary powerplay, the only goal of the second period.

Outshot 17-13 through 40 minutes, the Wolves came out firing in the third period, and were rewarded when Restoule finished off a two-on-one with Sudbury player of the game Stefan Harrington to even the game.

The Wolves pressured the Buffaloes in the dying minutes, including a powerplay with less than five minutes to go, but could not beat Moore to clinch the victory.

Sudbury will look to keep their unbeaten record intact when they face the Quebec champions from Séminaire Saint-François on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. ET, while the Buffaloes will look for win number one when they face the tournament hosts, the Ottawa Valley Titans, at 7:30 p.m. ET.