Hounds lose big at home
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Mistakes grew into misery for the Soo Greyhounds on Wednesday.
A series of miscues cost the home side dearly, as the Hounds dropped an 9-2 decision to the Sudbury Wolves before 3,087 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Whether it was due to coughing up pucks or blowing assignments, the Hounds allowed the Wolves to take full advantage of the speed and skill on their roster. Sudbury was a perfect 4-for-4 on the power play.
“Turnovers, missed assignments and penalties killed us,” said Hounds winger Kalvyn Watson, whose club surrendered three goals in the opening period and was never able to recover. “The plan tonight was to be a disciplined team because Sudbury leads the league in penalties taken. We also wanted to capitalize on the power play. But we did neither.”
“That’s not a good game. We made a lot of mistakes,” said head coach John Dean, whose team fell to 18-28-9-6, moving a step closer to being officially eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race. “Turnovers was a big one. Their transition game was very good, we refused to get above the puck tonight and odd-man rushes were the story of the game.”
The eighth-place Kitchener Rangers (29-26-4-0), idle on Wednesday, hold an 11-point lead on the ninth-place Hounds and the Soo has just seven games remaining.
The Rangers have nine more to play.
Failing to take advantage of a five-minute power play early in the first period proved an omen for the Greyhounds.
At the 1:01 mark, the Wolves Ethan Larmand was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking to the head. Soo rearguard Spencer Evans left the ice after the hit and didn’t return.
Instead of making the visitors pay, the Hounds surrendered a short-handed goal at 3:25. Matthew Virgilio lost the puck to former Greyhound Marc Boudreau and the Sudbury winger fed a wide-open Landon McCallum in front. He beat Samuel Ivanov on the stick side and the Wolves were off and running.
“They got a lot of momentum from that goal,” said Hounds winger Owen Allard. “It shows our group that we have to start on time.”
“We make a turnover on the power play and there was no reason for the turnover at all,” Dean added. “You’re not going to win hockey games that way.”
Twelve minutes later, Nicholas Yearwood found Alex Pharand behind the Soo defence and Pharand made a left-to-right move on Ivanov, who was at the winger’s mercy.
Before the opening period ended, Justin Cloutier turned the puck over in the right-wing corner and Evan Konyen found a wide-open Quentin Musty in the slot. Musty beat Ivanov with 33.9 seconds to go to make it 3-0.
“Bad turnovers and bad mistakes in the first period cost us,” added Watson, who would later notch his team-high, 30th goal of the season.
Jordan D’Intino, on a feed from Watson, scored his 24th from in front of the Wolves net at 3:33 of the middle frame.
But three-minutes later, Yearwood hit a wide-open David Goyette with a backdoor feed and Goyette wasted no time in firing home his 37th of the season.
The power-play marker made it 4-1 and spelled the end of Ivanov, who received little support on this night. He was replaced by Charlie Schenkel at the 6:32 mark.
Dean said Ivanov wasn’t pulled because of his performance.
Ten minutes later, another backdoor feed cost the home side as Pharand found McCallum for a 5-1 Wolves advantage.
Watson, who also has 30 assists this season, drew the Soo to within 5-2 after 40 minutes. But the Wolves shredded the Hounds in the final period, adding three power-play goals and four overall.
“Obviously, it’s a good achievement,” Watson said of his milestone marker, set up by Bryce McConnell-Barker and D’Intino. “I’m proud of it, but let’s see what we can do as a team over the last seven games.”
Watson began to show his offensive skill a season ago with a 15-26-41 stat line in just 47 games.
Asked about the difference this season, the overage from Peterborough, Ont., credited “getting to the net more and not being afraid to shoot the puck.”
Musty had two goals and an assist for the winners, who won their third in a row and improved to 27-25-5-3. McCallum scored twice while Goyette and Boudreau had a goal and three assists each.
Both Pharand and Nathan Villeneuve contributed a goal and an assist as the Wolves held a 28-22 edge in shots.
Jakub Chromiak rounded out the scoring while Yearwood finished with three assists and Nolan Collins netted a pair of helpers.
“Everyone needs to be better. Everyone has more to give – especially me,” said Allard. “We have to be a lot better overall.”
Wolves head coach Derek MacKenzie spoke of how his club didn’t create as many scoring chances as it’s used to. And he agreed his team was opportunistic on Wednesday.
“We do have a lot of guys who are pretty skilled and this has been coming for a while,” he added. “It’s nice to see the guys rewarded for it. But the score wasn’t indicative of how close these teams are.”
The Hounds are slated to leave on Thursday in preparation for games in Sarnia, on Friday (7:05 p.m.), and Saginaw, on Saturday (7:05 p.m.).
With time running out on their season, Dean spoke of how there’s still plenty for his players to play hard for.
“Everyone’s competing for ice, everyone’s competing for (pro) contracts, we’re bidding for Memorial Cup and everyone’s competing to be here next year,” he said. “If you can’t get motivated to play, you shouldn’t be here.”
Notes:
There was no word on Evans’s condition after the game. But having played in 10 games, Dean confirmed it would be the affiliated player’s final appearance with the team this season.
Veteran Caeden Carlisle, who received a match penalty for cross-checking in the third period against Sudbury, is facing supplemental discipline pending an OHL review of the play.
