Photos: Allyson Demers
KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – A Cameron Shanks chip in with less than a second remaining on the clock lifted the Greater Sudbury Cubs to a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up Saturday at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
The Cubs also scored first in this one when Bradley Walker darted down the left wing and wired a shot that beat Gold Miners’ starter Zachary Reddy, 4:35 into the proceedings.
It was more Greater Sudbury three minutes later when Billy Biedermann notched his first of the night by banging in a feed from teammate Liam Doyle.
Picking up a two-man advantage, Kirkland Lake got right back into the proceedings when Nicklas Albrecht whipped one in from the high slot.
However, the Cubs took a 3-1 lead into the intermission thanks to Biedermann feeding Pierson Sobush from behind the net at 19:08.
Moving to the middle stanza, Alex McDonald brought Kirkland Lake closer midway through the stanza by spinning in front and sliding a low attempt under goalkeeper Jake Marois from the left of the crease.
They then drew level off an odd-man rush, a couple of shifts later, that resulted in Camille Marcoux burying a second chance from the slot with help from Albrecht and McDonald.
Regaining the lead early into a man advantage, Greater Sudbury’s Seth Coulter fired a shot from the point that Reddy could not control, which allowed Sobush to slide in his second of the evening.
Taking their one-goal cushion into the final period, the Cubs saw the Gold Miners draw even, with their goalkeeper out for an extra attacker, as Marcoux jammed one in to the right of a sprawled Marois, with under a minute to play.
Then with overtime looming, Greater Sudbury came right back and got the game-winner, just a fraction before the buzzer sounded to end regulation, as an un-marked Shanks chipped in the decider from close range to give the guests the thrilling victory.
In the end, Marois got the win, his first of 2022, while Reddy suffered the late defeat.
