The Guelph Storm‘s newly-acquired forward Nick Suzuki got right to work on Thursday night by scoring the overtime winner in a 6-5 win over the Niagara Icedogs.
Guelph traded for the Montreal Canadiens prospect, along with forward Zach Roberts and defenceman Sean Durzi, on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Guelph Storm pull off massive 6-player trade with Owen Sound
The deal saw the Owen Sound Attack receive forward Zach Poirier and Barret Kirwin along with defenceman Mark Woolley.
Durzi and Suzuki assisted on fellow newcomer MacKenzie Entwistle’s first goal in a Storm uniform to open the scoring just 22 seconds into the game at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, Durzi, picked up two more assists in the game, including on Nate Schnarr’s goal to tie the game with seven seconds left in the game.
Dmitri Samorukov and Liam Hawel scored the other two goals for Guelph.
READ MORE: Guelph Storm acquire 3 players, trade away 15 draft picks in a trio of deals
Suzuki took centre stage in the extra frame when he grabbed the puck in his own end, skated into the Icedogs’ zone, went around the net and buried a shot from the faceoff dot.
BELOW: Guelph Storm forward Nick Suzuki turns on the jets for the overtime goal in Guelph’s 6-5 win over the Niagara Icedogs
Anthony Popovich made 39 saves for Guelph as their record improved to 21-12-7.
The Storm sit in fourth place in the OHL western conference and return in action on Friday night when they visit their Highway 6 rivals, the Kitchener Rangers.
LISTEN: Around The OHL podcast with Jake Jeffrey and Mike Stubbs
Larry Mellott will have the call on 1460 CJOY starting at 7:30 p.m.
Guelph will then be put to the test on Sunday, hosting the top-ranked team in the OHL, the Ottawa 67’s, at the Sleeman Centre at 2 p.m.