Surrendering 40+ shots a game is playing with fire when it comes to most any OHL (Ontario Hockey League) game.

Just two nights after a 39-save performance and some timely well-distributed offense was enough to lift the Sudbury Wolves to a 4-3 win over the Kitchener Rangers, the local juniors found themselves pushing their luck on the road on New Year's Eve.

Calvin Crombie snapped a 1-1 tie late in period two and the Barrie Colts added a pair of third period insurance markers, bouncing the Wolves 4-1 and snapping the longest Sudbury win streak of the season at five games.

A scoreless opening frame gave way to tallies just 80 seconds apart as Eamon Edgar broke the ice for the homeside, only to see Sudbury overager Alex Pharand respond with his ninth of the year (and sixth in the past four games) just over a minute later.

The Crombie tally would stand as the game-winning goal as former Wolf Alex Assadourian and Brad Gardiner allowed the Colts to pull away in the third, the former set-up in part by Sudbury Cubs' call-up Nolan Newton and the latter coming while Sudbury was on the power play.

After a very busy evening between the pipes on Tuesday, Paolo Frasca gave way to Bjorn Bronas who was tagged with his second loss offset against five wins, having been signed by the Wolves in mid-November.

The Wolves continue to hold down eighth place in the Eastern Conference, albeit now with just a single game in hand over the Brampton Steelheads, also sitting with 29 points, the tandem seven points back of the Kingston Frontenacs.

With a record of 14-20-1-0, Sudbury prepares for another important two-game set this weekend, with a home and home against the North Bay Battalion (18-15-2-0) scheduled for Friday in the nickel city and Sunday afternoon, some 90 minutes to the east.

With captain Nathan Villeneuve not available to go against the Colts, forward Greg Najda received the nod for his first game of 2025-2026 (and fourth of his OHL career), with local product Mason Walker also earning his fifth call-up in December.