Using the strength of an early three-goal outburst in the second period, the Greater Sudbury Cubs never looked back in defeating the Soo Eagles 6-1 Dec. 4 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest held at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
A fast-paced first period saw Greater Sudbury break the ice just over 15 minutes in when Kaedyn Long down low spotted defenceman Spencer Horgan pinching in from the point and put a pass on the tape that he wired past Sault Ste. Marie starter Jace Knoerle from the right circle.
The tally was Horgan’s 60th of his career.
Moving to the middle frame, the Cubs added another when Mason Walker knocked in a rebound on a backhand from between the circles off a Noah Kohan shot.
With the tally, as well as the second assist that went to Nolan Newton, the duo now have points in seven straight outings.
Beginning to apply some consistent pressure, the home side banged in two more, 28 seconds apart, to take control.
A nice bounce off a Tyson Richmond attempt from up high found its way to Briir Long at the top of the crease that he swatted in prior to Caden Dubreuil converting on the next shift when he took the puck at his own blueline then burst past a couple of Eagles’ defenders, went in alone on Knoerle, and roofed one high glove side.
The Soo did get on the board at 13:21 of the session when Ilian Danilov pulled up and spun just inside the Greater Sudbury blueline where he fired a sharp feed into the middle that Samuel Gold snagged, then used a slight toe drag before ripping a rocket into the top left corner high over the blocker of netminder Matthew Vahramian.
As tempers started to flare in the stanza, the Cubs clicked on a power play at 18:39 to extend their lead into the intermission when Briir Long whipped one in while coming down the slot off a Horgan set-up that eluded back-up Dalton Hoornstra who entered in relief shortly after the four Greater Sudbury marker.
In the third period, the hosts put it away with just under five minutes to go when a Newton stretch pass sent Walker in on a breakaway that he neatly tucked into the left side of the net off a couple of nice dekes to round out the scoring.
With the outcome, the Cubs win their sixth home game in a row and improve to 19-6-1-1 overall.
In defeat, the Eagles drop to 10-16-0-1.
The Greater Sudbury Cubs next take on the Blind River Beavers Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Blind River Community Centre.