Trailing by four goals just under nine minutes into their match against Windsor on Saturday night and trailing 6-2 after just one round of play, Wolves attempted to pull off one of their signature comebacks, falling 11-7 in a wide game. at the WFCU Center.
Two goals and one assist each from David Goyette and Kocha Delic, combined with single markers by Nathan Villeneuve, Evan Konyen and Quentin Musty, were not enough to prevent Sudbury from slipping to 21-13-3-2 and splitting a road swing through Sarnia and the City of Roses.
Wolves starter Jakub Vondras allowed three goals on only five shots before being replaced by Nate Krawchuk, who had to yield the net back to Vondras after being hurt in the second period. They combined to make 22 saves.
Sudbury continued to press offensively and cut the deficit to two goals on another two points in the final period, but the hosts were able to counterattack on each occasion and ultimately managed to put things out of the game with an empty-net goal and a field goal. Strength play due.
AJ Spellacy scored a hat-trick and Pasquale Zito scored two goals for the host Spitfires as both players benefited from five-point outings. Ryan Abraham and Valentin Zhugin also scored two goals apiece and Colton Smith and Jack Nesbitt added a goal apiece as Windsor advanced. forward to 13-22-3-1.
Joey Costanzo saved 31 for the winners.
The Wolves will try to adjust things for their visit to Barrie next Thursday at 7 p. m. m. , before returning home to face the Erie Otters on Friday at 7:05 p. m. m.
After proving their ability to erase an early deficit in a comeback win over the Kitchener Rangers last weekend, the Wolves found themselves in an even bigger hole in the first generation on Saturday, when Abraham scored just 3:04 into the game and then again. at 16:50
Zhugin continued his scoring streak with 6:12 to bring Vondras to the bench, but Krawchuk also beat the game shortly after taking over the box, with Smith doing the honors with 8:34.
Villeneuve gave the pack some life when he settled Costanzo with a backhand feint at 9:17, before Zito responded at 12:10. Delic then exchanged a McCallum pass with a single shot from the slot with 48 seconds left in a hectic first period, but Spellacy used a penalty kick to make up for four home goals late in the quarter.
Goyette, who slid a puck off Costanzo’s pad at 11:31 of the second, and Konyen, who buried his own rebound at 12:08, looked to keep the home team’s comeback hopes alive, but Spellacy halted that momentum, at least temporarily, with his power play counting at 6:30 p. m.
Goyette remained undaunted and Sudbury’s captain buried his team-leading 24th of the year only 38 seconds into the third, only for Spellacy to score short-handed at 10:14.
Musty added his 19th of the year on the same power play at 11:44, but that was as close as the Wolves could come as Nesbitt and Zhugin, with an empty-netter, and then Zito, with a power-play goal of his own, rounded things out for the victors.
Delic got one goal back for Sudbury with just six seconds to play.
Sudbury 7, Sarnia 3
There’s a lot of Great Sudbury in the Sudbury Wolves’ win on Friday night.
Hanmer’s Zacharie Giroux scored his first two goals in a Wolves uniform and Chelmsford’s Alex Pharand scored twice as the Wolves opened their way south with a 7-3 victory over the Sarnia Sting at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Villeneuve, Goyette and Chase Coughlan also scored, and Vondras made 24 saves in his return from the IIHF World Junior Championship as Sudbury cemented his grip on the top spot in the OHL Eastern Conference.
Kai Schwindt, twice, and Carter Kostuch scored goals and Karsen Chartier and Nick Surzycia combined to make 30 saves for Sarnia, which fell to 15-23-2-0 with its third straight loss.
bleeson@postmedia. com
twitter.com/ben_leeson
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