In his first game of the season, Mason Walker scored what he hopes is just his first hat trick of the season to lead the Greater Sudbury Cubs to a 5-2 win over the French River Rapids on Thursday evening.
It was a much-needed win for the defending Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champions, who are currently sitting in fifth with a 7-5-0-0 record.
The Cubs might have won the game but it was the Rapids that drew first blood at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex on Oct. 16.
“On that marker, Tristan Kitchen snagged a loose puck at the right of a downed Greater Sudbury goalkeeper Mateo Beites and lifted a backhand over his pad for his sixth tally of the campaign,” the game report states.
Just 13 seconds later, Walker scored his first of three goals, taking a pass up ice from Nat Lazarus and flying down the left wing to beat French River netminder Keiran Caughran.
The second period dawned with the game tied 1-1. Until 12:14 of the period, that is, when Walker notched his second goal, side-stepping a defender and beating Caughran with a nice move.
The Cubs made it 3-1 on the next shift after Mateo Signoretti chipped in a pass put in front by Caden Dubreuil.
Greater Sudbury made it a 4-1 game near the end of the second thanks to Nolan Newton, banging in a shot from the slot into the top lefthand corner.
The third period would be mostly scoreless until the final minutes. French River scored their second and final goal of the game with 2:59 remaining in regulation. Jeremy Clark fired from a sharp angle that rebounded off Beites and into the Cubs’ net for his first NOJHL goal.
The Cubs weren’t finished though and in the final minute, Walker completed his hat trick to secure the 5-2 win.
Tonight, the Cubs are in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., to take on the Soo Eagles.