The Greater Sudbury Cubs let a third-period lead slip away Saturday as the Northern Manitoba Blizzard erupted for five goals to secure a 6-3 victory in preliminary Centennial Cup action at Calgary’s Max Bell Centre. The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) champion Cubs struck first on the power play at 6:55 of the opening frame when Lincoln Moore wired a high-slot shot past Blizzard goaltender Taye Timmerman, set up by Michael MacLean. Northern Manitoba equalized in the second period as Jack Linton pounced on a loose puck in the crease, beating Cubs netminder Karsen Chartier with a backhand. Greater Sudbury regained the lead just 19 seconds into the third when Spencer Horgan buried a rebound off Daks Klinkhammer’s point shot. But the Blizzard answered with two power-play markers – first from Cheechoo Lathlin and then Brett Ward – to take a 3-2 lead. Ben Harris briefly tied it for the Cubs about halfway through the third, roofing a shot over Timmerman’s blocker. However, Northern Manitoba pulled away with three unanswered goals, including Alexandre Andre’s rebound tally and Tyler Dahms’ backhand finish. Linton sealed the win with an empty-netter with less than two minutes left. “Picking up player of the game honours in the match-up were Moore and Linton,” said NOJHL commissioner Robert Mazzuca. Shots favoured the Blizzard 35-21 by the end of the contest. The Cubs (1-1-0) return to action Monday against the Ontario Junior Hockey League‘s Trenton Golden Hawks (1-0-1) at 6 p.m. ET.
