Greyhounds gain ‘gritty’ win in Sudbury
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
It wasn’t always perfect, but the Soo Greyhounds team defence responded when absolutely necessary on Wednesday.
Like a jeweler guarding his most-expensive diamonds, the Hounds eagerly protected their net, denying the Sudbury Wolves even a single shot over the final 5:25 of regulation.
That effort, combined with Samuel Ivanov’s impressive netminding and Kalvyn Watson’s two-goal performance paced the Hounds to a 2-1 victory over the Wolves before 2,431 at Sudbury Community Arena.
“Sometimes it takes adversity and a one-goal game to push guys to limits maybe they’re not sure they have,” said head coach John Dean. “But I thought we defended very well at the end. Guys looked engaged and they were competitive. It was a gritty win.”
“They blocked shots very effectively and made themselves look very big in front of me,” said Ivanov, who won his second straight start, while boosting the Hounds to 4-5-3-1 heading into a weekend home stand. “That made my job easier.”
And then there was Watson, a crafty overage who notched his fifth and sixth goals of the season, tying Bryce McConnell-Barker for the club lead.
With the teams locked in a 1-1 tie, Watson put the visitors in front to stay late in the second period. After forcing a miscue in his own zone, the Peterborough, Ont., native proceeded to create a scoring chance.
It started in the defensive zone, he stressed.
“Their guy had the puck and I caused him to fumble it a bit,” said Watson, who notched 15 goals in 47 games a season ago.
He skated down the right wing on a breakaway “just wanting to make sure I finished my route to the net,” Watson added.
His initial shot was stopped by Sudbury netminder Joe Ranger. But the Hounds winger gobbled up his own rebound and deposited the puck into the net on the short side.
“Felt great for sure,” Watson said of his second goal, which came at the 17:08 mark.
At the 2:23 mark of the middle frame, Watson opened the scoring with a power-play marker. His centering attempt from the left side of the ice appeared to deflect off the skate of a Wolves defender and behind Ranger.
But just over two minutes later, Sudbury cashed in on an odd-man rush. Landon McCallum fed Nolan Collins in the slot and Collins beat Ivanov low on the blocker side.
It proved to be the Wolves lone goal, as Sudbury dropped its fifth in a row to fall to 3-8-1-0.
Overall, Dean said he “thought we gave up a lot of Grade A scoring chances and a lot of opportunities against. But I thought Sammy was fantastic. He gave our group a lot of confidence.”
For his part, Ivanov, a second-year player taken fourth overall in the 2020 Under-18 draft, credits consistency for boosting his game.
“I think I’m starting to play in more of a consistent way,” he noted, following a night that saw the Wolves hold a 29-27 edge in shots. “That was lacking before. There’s always improvements I can make, but as I play more games, I’m able to make better reads.”
That, he added, is helping him to become more effective.
“The reality is there’s a lot for us to work on,” Dean said. “We want to manage the puck better and make better decisions. I thought we got by on grit and great goaltending by Sammy.”
Meantime, after playing four straight on the road, the Soo is slated to entertain Guelph on Friday and Niagara on Saturday, both in 7:07 p.m. starts.
Notes:
Overage centre Mark Duarte suffered a lower-body injury and didn’t return for the third period. Dean said he wasn’t sure about the extent of the injury.
“Could be something, could be nothing,” the coach added.
Among the missing Greyhounds were first-year players Christopher Brown and Matthew Virgilio. Both are members of Team Canada Black, competing at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which is set to begin on Thursday in Langley and Delta, B.C.
Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis is director of hockey operations for Team Black.
