Soo miscues prove costly
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Sudbury Wolves
It’s a stretch in the game you never want to remember.
But afterward, the sequence is surely difficult to forget.
Leading 2-0 in the second period on Friday, the Soo Greyhounds committed turnovers which led to three goals in a span of 3:31. They eventually dropped a 4-2 decision to the Sudbury Wolves in front of 2,942 at Sudbury Community Arena.
“The mistakes were costly for sure,” said Hounds winger Jordan Charron. “There was a lack of effort from us and it’s pretty disappointing.”
“Absolutely, that was the difference in the game,” lamented Hounds head coach John Dean.
Winger Travis Hayes spoke of how the Greyhounds are well aware of how good the Wolves are in transition.
“They like a track meet and we played right into their hands,” Hayes said. “We have to be better than that, 100 per cent.”
After having two goals taken off the board – one for being offside, the other for goalie interference – the Wolves finally got rolling in Period 2.
After a Greyhounds turnover led to a rush in transition, Rowan Henderson made a slick feed to Blake Clayton. While cutting to the net, Clayton redirected the pass through the legs of Landon Miller at 9:59.
Off a Soo miscue at the Wolves blue-line, Sudbury used a nifty, three-way passing play to score again.
Off the rush, Artem Gonchar found Kieron Walton all alone in front of the Soo goal. With a wide open net, Walton tied the game 2-2 at 10:54.
Just 2:36 after that, three Hounds were caught up ice after an offensive-zone turnover. Alex Pharand was in the left circle when he found Gavin Ewles, who had beaten his man up ice. The trailer beat Miller high on the blocker side and the Wolves had their first lead, 3-2.
“We forced plays that didn’t need to be forced,” said Dean, whose club fell to 7-5-0-0 heading into Saturday’s 7:07 p.m. rematch with the Wolves at GFL Memorial Gardens.
But more than just the turnovers bothered the coach.
“Our effort on the way back to our zone is unacceptable, quite honestly,” he added. “We’re extremely choosy about when we want to work hard. Guys have to realize in this league you can’t take your foot off the gas.”
“We got outworked, 100 per cent,” said Hayes. “They were the better team tonight.”
Midway through the third, Nathan Villeneuve converted on a 2-on-2, snapping a shot past Miller on the glove side to make it 4-2. That was Sudbury’s lone shot of the period as the Hounds held a 14-1 edge over the final 20 minutes.
For the game, the Soo outshot Sudbury 31-23, but the visitors were often thwarted by the strong efforts of Wolves netminder Finn Marshall.
He helped Sudbury improve to just 2-7-1-0.
Hayes opened the scoring 40 seconds into the second period when Jakub Winkelhofer fired from the slot and the puck hit the veteran winger in the backside. After hitting Hayes, it bounced off the far post and behind Marshall.
“I was just parked in front and didn’t know where the puck was,” Hayes said of his fifth goal this season.
Less than seven minutes later, the Soo made it 2-0 when Chris Brown’s shot hit Noah Laus in front and deflected to Jordan Charron. From the left side of the net, the Ayr, Ont., native banged home his 10th goal. That’s tied with Marek Vanacker of Brantford for the league lead.
Scoring 10 times in 12 games has “obviously surprised me,” Charron admitted. “But I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can. I care more about the wins for our team.”
Dean said he’s always believed Charron was capable, noting how the second-year man is “big, strong and fast with a great shot. But I’d be lying to you if I said I thought he’d already have 10.”
Appearing on the Wolves TV postgame show, Pharand called the victory a team effort.
“That was a hell of a game by Marshall,” the veteran forward began. “I think everybody bought in. We trusted our system, trusted each other and we got the result we wanted.”
Asked about Saturday’s game, Hayes said the Hounds are “mad. We should come out flying tomorrow.”
“We better be ready to work hard,” Dean added.
Notes:
The newest Greyhound, winger Jeremy Martin, made his Soo debut on Friday. Martin was acquired from the Flint Firebirds earlier in the day in a deal that sent fellow winger Brady T. Smith to Flint.
The 18-year-old (2007 birth year) Martin was selected 15th overall in the 2023 OHL draft while the 17-year-old (2008 birth year) Smith was chosen 17th overall by Oshawa in the 2024 draft.
