It was an amazing 42-save effort by Greater Sudbury Cubs goalie Jake Marois that powered his squad to a 5-4 victory over the Elliot Lake Red Wings in a Friday night Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) game at Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena.
The only first period marker came off the stick of Sudbury's Nicholas Faught in the last minute when he snapped a shot that got past Elliot Lake goalie Nolan Chartrand.
In the second period, the Red Wings used the power play to tie it up as Brock McNaughton scored his first NOJHL marker, tucking the puck past Marois.
The Cubs took back the lead midway through the game, thanks to a goal off the stick of Billy Biedermann.
Only minutes later, the Red Wings countered twice to go up 3-2 on goals from Jovani Moses and McNaughton (with his second).
There was more scoring in second stanza, though, as Ben Harris and Pierson Sobush both got past Chartrand making it 4-3 Cubs.
The Cubs' Cole Ambeault put in an insurance marker for Sudbury at 7:08 of the third
Red Wings attacker Dayton Clarke clicked on the power play with 15 seconds remaining on the clock for his first in the league. It was the last goal.
With shots on 46-27 in favour of the Wings, Marois took the win while Chartrand suffered the setback.
In other Friday night play, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners doubled up the Powassan Voodoos 4-2, the Blind River Beavers edged the Espanola Express 2-1, the Soo (Ont.) Thunderbirds beat the Soo (Mich.) Eagles 4-3 in overtime, and the Hearst Lumberjacks beat the Cochrane Crunch 5-1.
Up next for the Red Wings another home game against Soo Thunderbirds at Centennial.Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday.