MINERS DE-RAIL THE EXPRESS, HALT LOSING STREAK

MINERS DE-RAIL THE EXPRESS, HALT LOSING STREAK

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON)

Led by Brandon Sutter, who chipped in with a goal and two assists, the Sudbury Miners stopped their losing streak at two, with a 3-1 win over the Long Island Express on Tuesday night.

Jake Allen, who made 22 saves in the Miners net, took the win.

The Miners controlled most of the opening period, outshooting the Express 11-9, but couldn’t beat Express goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

In the second, the Miners quickly took control and at 1:28 in, Sutter’s wrist shot from the blue line was redirected in the high slot by Matt Calvert past Lundqvist.

The Miners would add to their lead halfway through the second, as Sutter walked in alone along the goal line after winning a puck battle Express defenseman Mark Pysyk. Lundqvist made the initial save, but Sutter scored on the follow through. 

The Express would pull one back late in the second through John Tavares solo effort, but more importantly, he would go down the next shift with an apparent ankle injury after getting tangled with Miner's defenseman Aaron Ekblad.  The initial diagnosis is that Tavares will be out 3-5 days.

The Miners continued to dominate into the third.  While on the power-play, after Ondrej Palat did his part to keep the puck in the offensive zone, his linemates broke to the net. Sutter lost the puck in front but a trailing Radim Vrbata did a little toe drag and scored on the backhand.

The Miners finished the fast-paced third period with a 21-7 advantage in shots on net, and a 48-23 overall.

MINERS NUGGETS

- Brandon Montour made his season debut for the Miners.  He acquitted himself in a limited role and looked good on the power play.  He will be returned to the minors once Theodore comes back from injury.

- Tobias Reider also chipped in with two assists – his first points as a Miner.

- Jake Allen notched his first win of the year and will get the start on Saturday versus Hamilton.