A weekend split made for an interesting final two games for the Sudbury Wolves - but to be perfectly honest, thoughts were likely at least as focused on the upcoming playoffs ahead as they were on the tail-end of the regular season.
That was especially true of the Sunday matchup with the North Bay Battalion, a 4-2 Sudbury loss which featured just eight minor penalties assessed, including just two to the Wolves.
That stood in contrast to the Friday night home battle with the Brampton Steelheads. Apparently some bad blood remained following a mid-week encounter in Brampton as it took just 62 seconds for the first fight of the night, with another taking place before the end of the first.
As far as the scoreboard was concerned, the Wolves posted a 3-2 victory in a shootout, eventually closing out the 2025-2026 campaign with a record of 27-39-2-0 (56 points), good for eighth place in the East and a first round playoff date with the Brantford Bulldogs.
In their final regular season home game, the Pack spotted Brampton an early 1-0 lead - Zach Nyman scored 30 seconds in - but fought back on goals by Chase Coughlan (12:22 - 1st) and Jan Chovan (10:02 - 2nd) to take the lead.
That lasted all of 13 seconds as Kieran Witkowski deadlocked the contest at 2-2, the scoreboard still reading the same as the final buzzer sounded.
Three on three overtime produced seven shots and no goals - with the shootout lasting 12 shooters before Chovan solved Zach Bowen to send the Sudbury faithful home happy, with Bjorn Bronas turning aside six of the seven post-game penalty shots that he faced.
With a few players resting for coach Scott Barney and company, Daniel Berehowsky (Wolves) and Carter Kunopaski (Battalion) traded first period snipes.
Nolan Laird gave the homeside a 2-1 lead with the only goal of period two and Cam Warren doubled that advantage at 6:16 of the third.
Adam Nemec gave Sudbury fans a reason for hope, netting his 14th of the year with more than 11 minutes to play but Evgeny Dubrovtsev would put this contest to bed, finding the empty-net for North Bay with just over two minutes showing on the clock.
The Sudbury - Brantford series will begin in the home of Wayne Gretzky, with games one and two in Brantford on Friday and Sunday. The series shifts north for games three and four in Sudbury next Tuesday (March 31st) and Thursday (April 2nd) - with most pundits questioning whether game five even need be listed given the talent gap that accounted for a 50-point differential in the standings.
