Ending a tough run against a tough opponent, a Sudbury Wolves loss on Saturday night might have been understandable, even excusable.
But a team that has already declared its goal of combining a strong moment closed out the first half on a high note with a 5-1 win over the Greyhounds at GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie. Marie. Marie, rounding out a three-of-three weekend with five numbers out of six imaginable and a percentage of OHL’s top Eastern Conference standings.
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 an account
“It was a gutsy effort tonight,” said Sudbury head coach Ken MacKenzie, reached a short time after the final horn. “We knew this three in three was going to be hard, with all the travel and the Soo is a team that’s so hard to beat at home here, so I give the boys a lot of credit.”
Nathan Villeneuve, Kieron Walton, Kocha Delic, Quentin Musty and Matthew Mania scored and Marcus Vandenberg made 33 saves in a Wolves uniform until the Pack advanced to 18-11-3-2 this season.
Marco Mignosa responded with the overall, while Landon Miller made 17 saves.
While they haven’t matched their mind-blowing offensive totals from some of their previous games, such as an 8-4 win over North Bay at home on Friday, MacKenzie was perhaps even more inspired by the Wolves’ ability to close out Saturday’s game. – a feat that required them to win puck battles, block shots, back-to-back consequences in the second and third quarters, and execute their own force plays, as they did on 3 out of 4 occasions.
“I think we won in every single facet of the game,” MacKenzie said. “They took more shots and our goalkeeper was smart when needed, but I also give a lot of credit to our defenders. They blocked a lot of shots, we killed a couple of consequences and we talked about it before the game, that we were just looking to restrict our targets against a smart hockey team and give up one opposite to the so we couldn’t ask for much more.
This feature came just 24 hours after striker Alex Pharand, one of the team’s forwards since returning from the Christmas break, said that for all their skills, Wolves needed to work in the final games after taking an early lead.
“If you need to win games, you can’t rely on four or five goals every night,” MacKenzie said. “We ended up scoring a couple of goals, but we limited them to one and that’s a huge thing for us tonight. “”.
With Jakub Vondras still out of the IIHF World Junior Championships, MacKenzie said he could have passed the net to Nate Krawchuk if the latter hadn’t suffered a minor lower body injury. Cautioned for the start, Vandenberg made several quality saves over 3 periods. , adding some with the 3-1 deficit and pressing hard in the final minutes.
Musty’s empty-netter, then one more marker by Mania relieved the pressure on Sudbury’s keeper.
“He had to calm down and play his third in three nights as well, but he’s in a position to do it,” MacKenzie added. “It’s his most productive game so far with the Sudbury Wolves. “
It’s amazing! Kocha Delic and Kieron Walton scored almost as many goals to @Sudbury_Wolves within a few different ?seasons pic. twitter. com/ntQft8Wo6v
Offensive contributions from the smarter back end of the lineup have also been crucial, such as the power play effects of sophomore stars Villeneuve and Walton and a winner over Kocha Delic in just his second game after missing more than a month with injury.
“We’ve missed him,” MacKenzie said of the veteran striker, one of Wolves’ leaders in consistent trouble with the game with 26 in 25 starts. “Come on, all the close games we’ve played, we can just use them. “Having him back, with the power and finesse he brings to this hockey team, means a lot.
Delic and company will have a few days off before the first of three home games when the East Division-leading Brantford Bulldogs arrive at Sudbury Community Arena on Friday at 7:05 p. m.
Wolves 8, Battalion 4
If the message of following procedure after a frustrating defeat the night before, the Sudbury Wolves heard it loud and transparent on Friday and were rewarded with a big win at home.
Walton scored his first hat trick in OHL, David Goyette scored twice and Andre Anania, Nick DeAngelis and Alex Pharand all scored singles as the Wolves beat their Central Division rivals, the North Bay Battalion, 8-4. Sudbury Community Arena.
Vandenberg made 22 saves for Sudbury, which capitalized on its opportunities while outshooting an opponent for the moment the same night after coming up short in a situation in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Barrie Colts 24 hours earlier.
bleeson@postmedia. com
twitter. com/ben_leeson
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a civilized discussion forum and encourages all readers to share their perspectives on our articles. It can take up to an hour for comments to moderate before appearing on the site. We ask that your feedback be applicable and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications: you’ll now receive an email if you get a response to your comment, if there’s an update to a comment thread you’re following, or if a user you follow comments. Check out our network rules for more facts and main points on how to adjust your email settings.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, AT M4W 3L4
© 2024 Ottawa Citizen, a department of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution or transmission is strictly prohibited.
This uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads) and allows us to analyze our traffic. Learn more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.