A very nice Sunday afternoon crowd made its way to Sudbury Community Arena hoping to receive a little early Christmas cheer — and the Wolves wasted very little time delivering.
Tying a team record with a six-goal blast in the first period, OHL’s home runs increased their lead to 7-0 early in the game and cruised to an 8-4 victory over visiting Kingston Frontenacs.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Create an account or log in to continue your experience.
Don’t have an account? Create Account
Sunday’s party marked the moment when Wolves scored with 8 goals and the fifth time in 8 games that their output surpassed the six-goal mark.
Sudbury took credit for the first penalty of the day when Matthew Mania’s shot deflected through newcomer Lucas Signoretti before Alex Pharand doubled his side’s lead to a player down, exchanging the best passes with Nick Yearwood and passing the goalkeeper. Mason Vaccari in tight.
A shot from Djibril Touré gave Wolves a three-point lead heading into the midway point of the match, but it was later when the floodgates opened wide when Evan Konyen, Chase Coughlan and Dalibor Dvorsky scored in the 2-second box. 2h07 for Closes the opening stanza.
Any fears of the pack giving in were dispelled early the moment Landon McCallum scored his 11th of the season just 37 moments later. From then on, the consequences were not so fair and a slightly less concentrated effort in defense allowed the Fronts to make the final score much more respectable.
Ethan Miedema, Luke McNamara, Gage Heyes and Linus Hemstrom controlled to meet the challenge of Wolves goalie Marcus Vandenberg, making his first start since being acquired last week from the Niagara Ice Dogs, with Dvorsky retaliating with his moment of the game for Lobos.
Making one of their longest road trips of the year with a Thursday night stop in North Bay and a Friday matchup in Sault Ste. Marie, the K-town crew received little sympathy from a Wolves team intent on taking a run at the top of an incredibly tightly bunched Eastern Conference this year.
“We came out strong today,” Sudbury head coach Ken MacKenzie said. “This team played well and we didn’t need to take anything lightly. I think our guys were called up today, they looked for it from the start. “the game. I felt like we were going to be smart in the first era and that the records were going our way.
That said, focusing simply on protecting such a giant lead is rarely a natural gift for a team that thrives on offense and while the game never seemed at risk, there was plenty more to like in the first half of the Wolves’ game. which currently 30 minutes.
“With a lead like that, it’s kind of hard to stay focused,” said forward Evan Konyen, the 19-year-old who reached career speed in a single season with 11 goals and 12 assists in his first 27 games. . of the season. ” The coaches reminded us that the game wasn’t over and that we had to keep running hard.
“Defence is really important to us. It’s something we continue to work on in practice. Once we scored six, Ken’s message was to we want to see how many we can keep out of our net.”
Giving the Frontenacs 8 power plays (precisely the same number of PP chances they had allowed in the last 3 games combined) in fact did not help the hosts improve their offensive pace.
“Our pitch wasn’t great after that (the first half), because we weren’t afraid to take a penalty,” MacKenzie said.
“All the little things in a game that you need to do well, when you get an advantage like that, they slip away from you. But in the end we had to do everything we could to achieve all six goals as soon as possible, so all credit to the guys for getting off to that smart start.
And where the offense has revolved in recent games around the most sensible three of Dalibor Dvorsky, David Goyette and Quentin Musty, the game obviously saw the full spectrum of the Wolves’ offensive punch covered, with Konyen just one of many participants with the goal glut of late. .
“I feel like I’m playing with some confidence right now,” he said. “It helps me to have two smart players (to play with), whether it’s Lando (Landon McCallum), Villy (Nathan Villeneuve) or Delly (Kocha Delic) on my line each and every night. “
Not to mention very special talents in each and every educational consultation in the form of the higher unit.
“Those guys are fun to watch,” Konyen said. “It’s really cool to watch some of the stuff they can do with the puck. I really like the way that Dali (Dvorsky) protects the puck. He’s so smart with everything he does on the ice. Just watching him in practice is pretty cool.”
For the more than 4,000 enthusiasts who attended on Sunday, eager to liven up the upcoming holiday season, Dvorsky, Konyen and their friends were also quite interesting to watch.
Post Game Comments ?“You had to be doing something right to score those six goals as early as they did, so a lot of credit to the boys coming out and getting that great start.” – Ken MacKenzie pic.twitter.com/IL2ljhQ5Oh
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2023 Ottawa Citizen, a department of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution or transmission is strictly prohibited.
This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.