PHOTOS: Petrah Joehl – Sudbury Light Event Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – A couple of crafty shootout markers from Owen Fergusson and Spencer Horgan lifted the Espanola Paper Kings to a 4-3 victory over the Greater Sudbury Cubs Thursday evening in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
Capitalizing on the night’s initial power play, Espanola took the lead just over eight minutes in, when Graydon Guthrie stuffed in a rebound, off a Sean Short shot from the top of the right circle, past Greater Sudbury goaltender Noah Metivier.
Picking up the second assist on the marker was Horgan, who in turn extended a point streak to seven in succession, as the NOJHL’s leading scorer among defencemen collected his 40th assist and 57th point of the campaign.
Moving to the middle stanza, the Paper Kings went up by a pair when Atley Gringorten spun along the goal line and fired the puck into the open side of the net from the right of Metivier.
Cutting into the deficit at 11:21, the Cubs’ Matteo Signoretti picked off a play in the neutral zone and went in on a two-on-one with Oliver Smith and put an attempt on net that was eventually ruled a goal, following discussions held by the officials.
A late man advantage helped Greater Sudbury knot the affair at 2-2 when Mason Chitaroni fired a shot from up high that clipped off an Espanola defender and went through the legs of goaltender Jake Marois.
Heading to the third period, the Paper Kings retook the lead five minutes in while up a skater as Jack Lynes swept a pass in front where a waiting Gringorton snapped past the blocker into the left corner of the net.
A fourth power play goal on the night drew the hosts level when Josh Kavanagh moved into the left face-off dot and cranked a blast by Marois at 13:20.
A scoreless five-minute overtime failed to determine a winner, and sent it to extra shots to decide the outcome.
There, Fergusson made multiple dekes before sliding in an effort along the ice, only to see Smith counter with a snap shot for the Cubs.
In the third round, Horgan skated in on his chance then made a nice move to his left and lifted a backhand into the roof of the net.
Needing to convert to keep it going, Marois did his part one final time to secure the road win.
The result sees Espanola move to 20-13-0-0, while with a point in defeat, Greater Sudbury slipped to 26-7-0-1.
