The Soo Thunderbirds saw a huge point slip away with a tough overtime loss in Sudbury against the Northern Wolves on Wednesday night.
Jason Kauffeldt scored the winner 3:07 into the extra period to lift the Wolves to a 4-3 victory.
The overtime loss gives the third place Thunderbirds a point in the standings but the club remains four points behind the second place Blind River Beavers and 11 points behind the first place Northern Michigan Black Bears in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League western division.
The Thunderbirds, who have six games remaining in the regular season, are back in action on Saturday night in Blind River.
In Sudbury, Matt Caria led the Thunderbirds attack with a goal and an assist while single goals went to Matt Dias and Chris Towell.
James Dallaire and Brendan Biederman each scored once and assisted on another for Sudbury while Brian McGarry scored a power play goal. Matt Chuipa and Phil Malafarina recorded two assists each while Kauffeldt also added a helper.
The Northern Wolves outshot the Thunderbirds 48-43 as goaltender Michael Maulucci was tagged with the loss while Paul Pidutti was credited with the win.
*** TIME CHANGE:
The Soo Thunderbirds have changed the start time for Sunday's home game against the Manitoulin Wild at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Originally scheduled for 6 p.m., the Thunderbirds have changed the start time to 2 p.m. at the Rhodes.