Sudbury Wolves goalie Sam Tanguay will accept a loss if it is earned. On Friday night, Tanguay felt the Wolves didn’t earn a 2-1 loss against the visiting North Bay Battalion.
Tanguay, playing his second game in as many nights, and against the same team, was a force for the Wolves throughout the game.
Tanguay went post-to-post and stretched out his legs to make a pad save on North Bay’s Brett McKenzie late in the second period. It kept the score deadlocked at 1-1. It was one of several saves Tanguay made throughout the game to help keep his team a chance to win.
Early in the third period, a wild scrum ensued for the puck in front of Tanguay. The goalie stood his ground. A pile-up of players crashed into Tanguay and the puck squeezed through the tangle of legs and arms and sticks and crossed the goal-line.
The referee instantly signalled the goal was good and that a North Bay player had been pushed from behind into Tanguay. The Wolves players erupted in protest. Sudbury head coach Paul Fixter hollered from the bench. It was to no avail. The goal stood as the eventual game winner, credited to former Sudbury forward Ray Huether.
It was not the way Tanguay wanted to lose. After a game in which he made numerous spectacular saves to keep Sudbury in the hunt for a win, Tanguay was disappointed but not begrudging the loss.
“It sucks, but you have to live with it,” Tanguay said about the controversial goal. “I had two guys on top of me. I couldn’t really move. I couldn’t really make a save.”
Tanguay was most bitter about the fact the Wolves effort was wasted because of the goal.
“These ones hurt the most. We worked really hard,” he said.
It was another hard-fought battle between Sudbury and North Bay as there was little room for error on both sides and no shortage of physical play and behind the play roughhousing.
The Battalion opened the scoring when David Sherman scored off a rebound chance in the first period at 6:06. It remained that way until the early stages of the second period.
Sudbury sniper Nathan Pancel called for a pass in the high slot and got it from Nick Baptiste. Pancel got what he wanted and made no mistake as he flicked a laser shot to the top corner and past North Bay goalie Jake Smith to tie the game at 1-1 at 6:05.
Despite the controversial goal in the third period, it didn’t wilt the Wolves spirit as they continued to press hard. They even yanked the goalie late in the third period and mounted a couple of furious charges at the North Bay net, but couldn’t find the back of the net one more time.
“It was a great effort. They deserved a better fate,” Fixter said of the Wolves. “They really did. We had ample scoring opportunities. We didn’t score on the power play. That really was the difference.”
Tanguay finished the game with 28 saves, many of the difficult variety.
The night before, in North Bay, Tanguay made 33 saves in a 3-0 loss.
“Our goalie was equal to the task and was outstanding again,” Fixter said.
With the win, the Battalion strengthen their grip on first place in the Central Division. Their record improved to 12-5-3-1. The team is becoming a well-oiled machine and a beast in the eastern Conference in the process.
“I think a lot of people thought we were going to fall back after going to the final last season and losing some key players,” North Bay head coach Stan Butler said. “I guess our young guys learned from the leaders last season and took the next step. The guys learned to win last season and they have carried it over to this season.”
Game notes
The three stars of the game were: Jake Smith (first), Sam Tanguay (second) and Nathan Pancel (third).
Sudbury scratched Trenton Bourque and Michael Pezzetta.
North Bay scratched Zach Shankar, Owen Green and Calvin Gomes.
Sudbury’ s record drops to 4-19.
