Wolves maul Generals in chippy OHL affair

OSHAWA, Ont. — Darian Pilon and Chandler Yakimowicz scored two goals each as the Sudbury Wolves downed Oshawa 5-3 on Sunday night, ending the Generals home win streak at four.

Darian Pilon’s two goals gave the Wolves (6-3-1) an early 2-1 lead, while Yakimowicz scored his two late in the game to cement the victory. Shane Bulitka also scored for the Wolves.

Anthony Cirelli had a goal and assist for the Generals (5-5-0), while Domenic Commisso and Mitchell Vande Sompel scored the other tallies.

Jake McGrath stopped 34 of 36 shots in the victory, bringing his personal record to 3-1-1. Jeremy Brodeur stopped 21 of 25 in the loss.

It was a physical affair, starting midway through the first period when Oshawa’s Riley Stillman hit Alan Lyszczarczyk from behind into the boards. In retaliation, Yakimowicz dropped his gloves and went after Stillman, who was not a willing combatant.

Yakimowicz received an unsportsmanlike conduct minor and a 10-minute misconduct for the incident while Stillman sat for two minutes for boarding.

After the Wolves took a two minute penalty for too many men on the ice, Vande Sompel scored on the ensuing power play from the slot for his fourth goal of the year and gave the Generals an early 1-0 lead.

Goalie Brodeur under fire

Darian Pilon scored two goals seconds apart to bring Sudbury back into the game. (Ontario Hockey League)

Near the end of the first period, Darian Pilon snuck behind the Generals defence to find himself alone in front of Brodeur and tied the game at one for his third goal of the season. Seconds later, Darian Pilon led another fast break into the Generals zone and fired it past the goalie to give the Wolves their first lead.

With less than two minutes to play in the first period, General’s captain Cirelli cleaned up a rebound in front of the Wolves goaltender and tucked it in stick side to tie the game at two.

Short after, Sudbury’s Zack Wilke gave Stillman a flying elbow in front of the Generals net. Wilke received a five minute penalty for a check to the head and a game misconduct.

At the start of the second period, with the Wolves short-handed, Bulitka did his best to give Sudbury back the lead when he beat Brodeur on an odd man rush, but did not beat the goal post.

Seconds later Liam Dunda led a Wolves shorthanded rush but ran over the Oshawa goalie to give the Generals a two-man advantage for two minutes. However, the Generals were not able to capitalize which allowed the Wolves to stay in the game.

At the 7:48 mark of the second, with Oshawa’s Alex Di Carlo in the penalty box for delay of game, Bulitka scored on the power play to give the Wolves a 3-2 advantage.

After Sudbury’s Lyszczarczyk went to the box for tripping, Michael Pezzetta was able walk in on a breakaway shorthanded but the Wolves were stopped by the goal post once again.

Halfway through the third period, the Wolves added some insurance when Yakimowicz added his second goal of the season to make the score 4-2.

With the teams playing four-on-four, Oshawa’s Commisso was able to walk in on a breakaway on McGrath to give the Generals a shot at tying the game by making it 4-3 with less than four minutes left.

The Generals comeback was too little too late because in the dying seconds of the third period, Yakimowicz scored on an empty net to cement the win for the Wolves.