(Greater Sudbury, ON) With a 4-1 victory Wednesday, the Sudbury Wolves advanced to the second round of the 2019 OHL Playoffs. The Wolves defeated the Mississauga Steelheads in four straight games to advance to the semi-finals of the OHL Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

It was a complete team effort, however a number of Wolves players had stand out games in the opening round including Quinton Byfield who sits 6th in the OHL Points race and 1st amongst rookies. Nolan Hutcheson also notched his first career OHL hat-trick in the opening game of the series and added in three assists throughout the series for six points in four games.

Luukkonen playing a big part in the Sudbury Wolves success. Photo by Gord
Luukkonen playing a big part in the Sudbury Wolves success. Luukkonen of Finland at 2019 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship vs USA New Years Eve 2018.Photo by Gord

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played a huge part on the back-end, finishing the first round with a 0.946 SAV% and 1.95 GAA. David Levin was a force to be reckoned with, scoring three goals including the game 2 overtime winner, as he made his return from injury.

Series Recap:

  1. Fri Mar 22 | MISS (2) @ SBY (5)-Final
  2. Sat Mar 23 |MISS (2) @ SBY (3)-Final OT
  3. Sun Mar 24 | SBY (5) @ MISS (3)-Final
  4. Wed Mar 27 | SBY (4) @ MISS (1)-Final

The Wolves will now wait to see who their next opponent will be as the North Bay Battalion, Niagara IceDogs, Oshawa Generals and Peterborough Petes complete their respective series.

Tickets are on-sale now for Home Playoff games #3 and #4 at the Sudbury Arena Box Office and online at greatersudbury.ca/tickets. Dates, times and opponents are to be determined.