ELLIOT LAKE – A Shane Woolsey power play goal with 1:25 remaining was the difference as the Elliot Lake Wildcats edged the Sudbury Nickel Barons 2-1 Friday evening in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at Centennial Arena.
The visiting Nickel Barons opened the scoring five minutes into the contest as Danny Lepage slammed home his eighth goal of the season, beating Wildcats starter A.J. Smith.
Special teams saw Elliot Lake pull even at 15:08 of the first as Nathan Campbell connected on the power play as he fired home his ninth of the campaign.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 through 40 minutes as Wildcats netminder A.J. Smith and Sudbury’s Jessie Morin kept opposing shooters at bay.
Then with overtime looming Elliot Lake won it with the late man advantage marker as Woolsey buried the game-winner to give his side the two points in the tightly contested match-up.
Shots on goal favoured the Wildcats 45-29 on the night as they moved to within one point of Sudbury in the league standings.
Three more games are on the NOJHL slate Saturday with Elliot Lake visiting Mattawa at 5 p.m. while Sault Ste. Marie travels to Blind River and Kirkland Lake and Abitibi finish off a home-and-home at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex in a pair of 7:30 p.m. starts.
