GAME RECAP: 67’s fall to Wolves, end win streak at seven
After seven straight wins, the Ottawa 67’s streak has come to an end with Ottawa falling 5-2 to the Sudbury Wolves.
Much like many of the Barber Poles recent games, the 67’s came out of the gate physically, with big hits from Zach Houben and Spencer Bowes to set the tone early. However, it’d be the Wolves who’d get on the board first thanks to a shot from Chase Coughlan. They’d follow it up with yet another marker on the power play from Jean-Christoph Lemieux to make the game 2-0. Despite the scoreboard favouring the Wolves, the 67’s tended to dominate possession and outshot Sudbury 12-7 after 20.
“Overall, we played a solid game,” said Zach Houben. “The work we put on the ice, sometimes doesn’t show on the scoreboard; I think we did a lot of good things that we can build off of.”
The 67’s would enter the second with renewed spirit. They’d find a spark of hope from their fourth line, with birthday boy Zach Houben burying a rebound from Brayden Krawczyk to bring the game within one. Buffalo Sabres prospect David Bedkowski would net his first as a 67 off of a toe drag shot from the high slot to tie the game. That said, the Sudbury Wolves would take the lead once again on a slot one-timer a few minutes before the period’s end. That said, the 67’s still continued to outshoot the Wolves 32-13 after two periods.
“It was pretty special for sure and a timely goal,” Houben said of his goal. “Happy to get that one through and it made the birthday a little sweeter.”
The Barber Poles would start the third giving up a goal on a 5-on-3 penalty kill, bringing their deficit to 4-2. The game would continue to swing in favour of Sudbury as 2026 NHL draft prospect Adam Nemec would find the net again to end the game 5-2. On top of getting on the board more, the Wolves would also finally start to control the play offensively, outshooting Ottawa for the first time this game, 12-9. Ultimately what proved to be integral for their victory was the team’s strong penalty killing.
Despite the loss, both Cade Campbell, who made his OHL debut tonight, and Jack Johnson, who played in his first game since December, showed off their potential.
“I didn’t know if I was nervous or excited going into the warmup,” said Cade Campbell of his rookie debut. “It was an incredible experience, great atmosphere, great fans.”
“I tried to keep it simple in the first bit, make plays but not mess up, get my stick on the puck and be in the right place defensively,” he added.
“I felt pretty good,” said Johnson. “I think building with Navan, I’ve been playing very well and feeling a lot more confident making plays.”
As a result, Johnson secured his first point off of Houben’s goal in the second.
“I thought our defensive play kept us in the game even though we had a couple bad bounces,” said Johnson. “That offensive side was there too, we just couldn’t bury them.”
“We passed the puck amazingly and had over 40 shots,” said Campbell. “So, we were doing some things right, the puck sometimes doesn’t find the back of the net.”
Box score
| Teams | Score | Shots on goal | Power plays |
| Ottawa | 2 | 41 | 0/5 |
| Sudbury | 5 | 25 | 3/4 |
First period
#9 Chase Coughlan (12) scores. Assists: #97 Vladimir Provorov
#66 Jean-Christoph Lemieux (18) scores. Assists: #26 Jan Chovan, #71 Adam Nemec
Second Period
#25 Zach Houben (3) scores. Assists: #9 Brayden Krawczyk, #20 Jack Johnson
#38 David Bedkowski (3) scores. Assists: #23 Connor Bewick, #17 Brock Chitaroni
#44 Daniel Berehowsky (7) scores. Assists: #93 Luca Blonda
Third Period
#66 Jean-Christoph Lemieux (19) scores. Assists: #84 Artyom Gonchar, #71 Adam Nemec
#71 Adam Nemec (5) scores. Assists: #9 Chase Coughlan, #26 Jan Chovan
Up next
The 67’s will hit the ice again at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 7th, welcoming the Brantford Bulldogs for the Siren Series game sponsored by Walker Real Estate. Fans can buy tickets to the game here.
Jacob Titus
Writer, Ottawa 67’s
