PHOTOS: Rob Fera – Sudbury Light Event Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – Greater Sudbury Cubs captain Oliver Smith had a goal and four assists Friday night to help propel his side to a 5-2 victory over the Timmins Rock in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
A late first period Greater Sudbury power play helped then notch the lone marker of the session as Nolan Newton took an Smith pass to the left of the net and made a nice spin move before firing a shot past Timmins netminder Patrick Boivin at 19:14.
Action in the second stanza saw the Cubs strike twice early on to go up by three.
Hudson Martin picked up his first NOJHL goal at 1:36 as he took a Chris Innes feed in transition and whipped it in from the left side.
Newton then made it 3-0 at 4:49 as he took a Smith drop pass and fired a shot past a screened Rock goaltender.
Timmins got one back at 11:41 thanks to Liam Wells, who finished off a crafty shot attempt from Nolan Ring that was initially stopped by Greater Sudbury starter Noah Metivier.
Continuing to battle, the defending NOJHL champions then pulled to within one at 18:22 off the stick of Kaeden McArthur, who finished off a nice move and cross-ice pass off the stick of Josh Russell.
Smith however restored the Cubs two-goal lead prior to the second intermission as he went to the net and scooped up a loose puck laying in the crease and popped into the open side.
In the third, the hosts secured the result via the man advantage, as Smith collected another point by sweeping a pass over to Cameron Walker who quickly chipped it into the right-hand corner with under five minutes remaining to round out the scoring.
Dating back to last season, Smith now has points in eight consecutive regular season contests while also helping Greater Sudbury post back-to-back victories to begin their 2023-24 campaign.
