Joel Vanderlaan
@jovanderlaan
The Kingston Frontenacs made the most of their home-ice advantage this weekend, defeating the Sudbury Wolves 4-3 in double overtime on Sunday afternoon at Slush Puppie Place.
With the victory, Kingston takes a 2-0 series lead as the matchup shifts to Sudbury Community Arena for Game 3 on Tuesday night. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
Following a scramble in front of Charlie Schenkel, the Frontenacs went up ice and opened the scoring just under five minutes in, as Cedrick Guindon found the back of the net.
Ben Pickell doubled Kingston’s lead with his first goal of the postseason, collecting a pass in his feet before making no mistake on the backhand to make it 2-0.
Just 40 seconds later, Sudbury responded when Kieron Walton buried a cross-ice feed from Nathan Villeneuve, cutting the deficit in half.
The Wolves ran into penalty trouble when Chase Coughlan and Tayjon Street took minors on the same shift, giving Kingston a 5-on-3 power play.
Guindon capitalized, blasting home his fourth of the playoffs on a one-time pass from Calgary Flames prospect Jacob Battaglia to give the Frontenacs a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission.
A scoreless but physical second period saw Wolves captain Donovan McCoy assessed a game misconduct for cross-checking, while Ben Pickell and Finn Kearns received fighting majors.
Early in the third, Villeneuve took advantage of a turnover in front of Kingston’s net and capitalized in the slot. He struck again on the power play at 14:24, to force overtime. Making his return to the Wolves’ lineup, Quentin Musty was able to find the scoresheet with a secondary assist on the tying goal.
Kingston killed off a late slashing penalty that carried into the first extra frame, but early in double overtime, the Frontenacs notched the game-winner through Gage Heyes.
Schenkel made 32 saves in the win, while Nate Krawchuk turned aside 45 shots in the loss.
