Fatigued Miners can’t handle the Islanders, lose 3-2.

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON) –

Henrik Zetterberg broke a tie late in the third period as the visiting Sanibel Islanders downed the Sudbury Miners, 3-2 on Thursday. The loss was the Miners second in a row, and third in the past four games.

Winger Brad Marchand, with two, also scored for the Islanders. Goalie Ryan Miller had a relatively quiet night and made only 16 saves to get the win.

Marchand opened the scoring at 7:20 of the first period, as he beat Miners goaltender Jake Allen with a low slapper just inside the right faceoff dot. Sudbury would respond shortly after as Toby Enstrom’s dump-in was badly misplayed by Miller. The puck somehow got tangled up in his skates and ended up in the back of the net. The two teams would trade a few more chances but would go to the dressing room tied 1-1.

In the second, the Miners travel fatigue from the night before began to show. They were badly outshot, 12-5, and many of those were top notch chances. But, a power play goal by Brandon Sutter late in the period would give the Miners a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

As was expected, the Miners simply ran out of gas in the third, and the Islanders took full advantage. They would score twice in the period, on goals by Marchand and Zetterberg, to seal the victory. The Islanders outshot the Miners, 13-4, in the final period.

“We just simply ran out of gas”, quoted Miners forward Matt Calvert. “Usually, you get a day of rest when you travel across the country. I’m not making excuses, but to have back-to-back games with that kind of road trip, makes it tough”.

The Miners next game is Saturday night at home versus the Siberia Icecats. Game time at the Vale Centre is 7:00pm.

MINERS NUGGETS

- It’s official…..the injury bug has hit the Miners. Defenseman Toby Enstrom is the latest casualty, as he suffered an ankle injury early in the second period. Enstrom got tangled with Islanders forward, Brad Marchand and fell awkwardly into the boards. He will be out of the lineup for about a week.

- The power play was 1 for 3 on the night and currently sits 18th overall. The penalty killing, which has been one of the lone bright spots on the year, allowed one power-play goal and but sits at 5th overall.

- Saturday night is another Fan Appreciation night. The first 10,000 fans will receive an actual piece of fool’s gold, autographed by Miners goalie Ben Bishop.