Brampton, ON 09 Sun 08 - On a winter storm weekend, the Brampton Battalion's magic number froze.

The Battalion surrendered three third-period goals and lost 3-2 Sunday to the Sudbury Wolves, while the Niagara IceDogs rallied to defeat the Oshawa Generals 4-3 via shootout at St. Catharines. Those results left the awarding of the Ontario Hockey League's Central Division title for another day.

The Battalion, with a won-lost-extended record of 39-22-4 for 82 points, now leads second-place Niagara by three points. Each team has three games left, with any combination of points earned by the Troops or lost by the IceDogs totaling four clinching the division crown.

Eric O'Dell scored the winning goal for Sudbury at 13:39 of the third period, capping a succession of three goals in a span of 8:33.

The Troops led 2-0 through 40 minutes, but Brett Thompson scored from the deep slot at 5:06 and Gerome Giudice tied it at 10:03, beating screened Battalion goaltender Patrick Killeen from the left-wing circle. O'Dell then converted a Jared Staal pass with a backhander inside the right post.

The Battalion, which peppered Sudbury goaltender Alain Valiquette with 50 shots, came closest to an equalizer in the 16th minute. Bobby Sanguinetti pushed a feed from Matt Duchene wide of the left post, and Thomas Stajan tipped a shot by Zack Shepley past the right post.

Sudbury earned a second consecutive win and is 17-44-5 for 39 points. The Wolves, who broke a seven-game road losing streak, are fifth in the division and last in the Eastern Conference.

Defenceman Sanguinetti scored both Battalion goals in the first period, when the Troops had a 22-5 advantage in shots. Killeen made a total of 18 saves.

"I thought we played well in the first period," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "We played hard, but in the second we got extremely selfish. We had a lot of guys who were cheating on the wrong side of the puck and looking for easy goals. If you let a team stick around long enough, they'll eventually have a chance to beat you, and that's what happened today."

Butler said the coaching staff told the Troops to keep their focus in the third period.

"When you're up two goals in the third, you can't lose a game like that. They had to keep going forward. We had lots of chances to score goals today and didn't do that. If you can finish, you don't make things hard for yourself." 

Sanguinetti buried a Kody Musselman feed from the edge of the left-wing circle 10:43 into the game and netted a shot from the left point at 16:00.

That goal, Sanguinetti's career-high 29th of the season, came with Sudbury's Daniel Maggio serving a double minor for high-sticking Kyle DeCoste in the face. DeCoste went to the dressing room, where he received six stitches to close a cut near his left eye, but returned early in the second period.

The game was delayed 11 minutes midway in the second frame when a blown transformer caused a power outage in the arena.

The Battalion outshot the Wolves 14-8 in the period, with its best scoring chance coming in the 18th minute when Cory Emmerton hit the post from the deep slot.

Battalion scratches were Jaroslav Hertl, Alexander Eriksson and Scott Tanski. Sudbury was without Tyler Arps, Kyle Tarini and Jesse Hebscher.

The Battalion visits the Peterborough Petes at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Niagara entertains the Belleville Bulls on Thursday night.

BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance was 2,404 … The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Sudbury was 0-for-1 … The Battalion is 21-11-0 at home. The Wolves, 6-23-3 on the road, won an away game for the first time since a 5-2 victory over the Owen Sound Attack on Jan. 26 … The game was delayed for eight minutes after O'Dell's goal while arena staff tended to a broken door at the Battalion bench … Assistant coaches Bryan Verreault and Wade Bartley ran the Sudbury bench with head coach and general manager Mike Foligno on a scouting mission … The Wolves overcame two-goal deficits in three games against the Troops this season. Sudbury won 4-3 at Brampton on Oct. 18 and 4-3 in overtime at home Nov. 9 … Opening Battalion line combinations included Cody Hodgson centring left winger Emmerton and right winger Jason Dale, Stajan skating between left winger Graham McNabb and right winger John Hughes and Duchene centring left winger Mike Lomas and Luke Lynes on right wing. DeCoste centred left winger Luke VanMoerkerke and right winger Musselman … Sanguinetti extended a points streak to four games. He has four goals and one assist for five points in the span … Lomas returned after missing one game with a lower ankle sprain … Defenceman John de Gray played his 250th career game, fourth on the Battalion's all-time list, while Lynes added to his club record with his 266th game … O'Dell, who turns 18 on June 21, has 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 24 games. Sudbury acquired his OHL rights in a Jan. 8 trade with Oshawa … The Battalion, which won the previous three meetings, went 5-2-1 in the teams' season series.