Nickel Barons win on the road

The Sudbury Nickel Barons have won back-to-back games for the first time in more than a month, showcasing an efficient road effort Friday night in stopping the Cochrane Crunch 4-1 at the Tim Horton Event Center.

Backstopped by a 37-save performance from Jessie Morin, the Barons received goals from four different players, scoring at least once in every period to offset a power-play marker late in the first period by local product Cody Gratton.

Jimmy Roy opened the scoring for Sudbury, rookie defenceman Brett Whitehead netted the game-winning goal in period two, and Dylan Callaghan and Ryan Theriault added insurance in the final frame as the Barons improved to 21-11-1-2.

The Crunch dropped to 23-14-0-2, three points ahead of the Abitibi Eskimos in the race for second place in the NOJHL East Division behind the front-running Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (28-6-2-2).

Sudbury returns home on Wednesday for a matchup with the Eskimos, before facing their nemesis on Sunday, battling the Elliot Lake Wildcats on the road.

NOJHL regular season action continues right through until March 9, with post-season play likely to kickoff on March 11.