This says a lot about the Sudbury Wolves’ main criterion this season: a convincing 7-4 victory over one of their main rivals for supremacy in the OHL Eastern Conference satisfied, but it didn’t exactly satisfy either the players or their coaches .
Seven other scorers propelled the Pack to victory at Sudbury Community Arena in a Friday night game in which the hosts took an early lead, only to see their warring parties fall back and even shortly take the lead. However, 3 points straight into the moment and then back-to-back goals in the third sealed the result for Wolves.
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
“I think we finished well, took the game and let them come back,” said Sudbury coach Ken MacKenzie, whose team advanced to 19-11-3-2 and strengthened its grip on the convention lead. We’re betting on the top position and every time you can beat a team for the top position you have to be happy, but I’m not entirely excited. Tonight we took some undisciplined consequences that may have given them a chance to get back into the game. and in all likelihood win it.
“Most of the guys made a smart effort, but we want to be much better at protecting our lead and taking penalties. “
Nathan Villeneuve, whose line line with Kieron Walton and Evan Konyen was one of Sudbury’s top and productive finishers on Friday, opened the scoring with a shot to the wrist after Walton exited the offensive zone at 7:15 of the first half. Walton then tried the scoreboard himself on a forced play at 1:51, knocking down Villeneuve’s rebound past Bulldogs goalie Matteo Drobac at 1:51.
Sudbury had several chances to extend that lead by outshooting Brantford 14-7 in the period, but Nick Lardis took advantage of a turnover to put the score on the board at 14:07 and beat Sudbury starter Marcus Vandenberg with a shot from the point on a shot from the point. Credit to the Bulldogs kid at 6:55 p. m.
Jorian Donovan gave Brantford the go-ahead at 7:04 of the second period, after a pair of big saves by Drobac, but Sudbury’s full lifeline of Nick Yearwood, Lucas Signoretti and Chase Coughlan were able to tie the game from close range. range at 9:02, then the Wolves added two more in quick succession.
First it was Quentin Musty who chipped a puck home on a nice pass from Kocha Delic at 11:16, then McCallum who fired Yearwood’s feed from a corner off Drobac and into his net at 13:40.
Marek Vanacker recovered one for the Bulldogs after a power play error by Sudbury, sending a puck perfectly past Vandenberg with just thirteen seconds left in the mid-period, but his team couldn’t get any closer.
“We know they’re a smart hockey team and they played last night, so we had them in the second game, but we’re at home and we’re not sitting around,” MacKenzie said. “We know we can score goals and we’re looking to score goals. They don’t generate a lot of offense, they don’t get a lot of shots or a lot of scoring opportunities, so we think if we keep chasing those guys and scoring goals, we’ll find a way to win the game. hockey. It wasn’t going to be one of those games where we were looking to win 1-0.
Evan Konyen got some security at 14:05 of the third half, completing an assist through Nick DeAngelis after a big move through OHL’s defensive guard of the month.
“Obviously, that’s the outcome we were looking for and I think we made a pretty smart effort,” said DeAngelis, who extended his league’s most productive scoring streak to 18 games with a two-assist outing Friday. “The most productive 60 minutes, but they gave us homework done and we’re going to work on it from now on. “
While he would prefer not to play short-handed, DeAngelis said some of his team’s penalties were the result of hard, physical play, though sometimes, their emotions get the best of them.
“Usually, they make up for it,” the Sudbury blueliner said. “You can’t really blame anyone for that.”
DeAngelis’ own play earned him some more praise from MacKenzie, who was pleased this week to see the veteran honoured not only by the OHL, but by the Canadian Hockey League as a member of its Team of the Month.
“I remember when he came to us, he went nine or 10 games without a point and people were a little bit worried and I said hey, the way that kid plays defence, I’m not too worried about him scoring goals or getting points for us,” Sudbury’s coach said. “Now, he’s got that little streak going and that was just a high-end play he made at the end of the game. That’s Nick — he has been playing big minutes for us and he’s an elite player.”
DeAngelis, however, made sure to share the credits with his teammates, noting that Friday’s win came about thanks to contributions from the top to the bottom of his lineup.
“Let’s all contribute, let’s all help,” he said. It doesn’t matter if we scored that goal at the end because we would have won that game. It’s helping with the cushion, though, we’d go out there and play smart defensive hockey.
David Goyette left no doubt when he scored his 19th goal of the season into an empty net at 7:31 p. m. , with Yearwood still receiving an assist. Villeneuve made a diving play to take away an opportunity and clear the defensive zone, sending his teammates onto the field. attack.
The Wolves will look for a similar result against another division leader, the Midwest’s Kitchener Rangers, on Saturday. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
“Their track record speaks for itself and they’ve been given a lot of talented guys on their team,” said DeAngelis, who played against the Rangers more as a member of the Windsor Spitfires. “It was just given to us to play our game,” he plays hard against them and stays out of the box because they have a wonderful power game. It’s not going to be easy, but they gave us the team to beat anybody.
bleeson@postmedia. com
twitter. com/ben_leeson
Post comments about the game ?: “They’re amazing. They are turbulent, they keep us going each and every night. They never have a night off. They are also part of our team, they help us achieve victories in our barn. -Nick DeAngelis pic. twitter. com/eqb0N1vWJO
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, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2024 Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication 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.