The Sudbury Wolves were on home ice on Wednesday night looking to win their fifth consecutive game, but unfortunately for the Pack, the Mississauga Steelheads had other ideas.
The Jan. 10 game also marked the debut of three new Wolves players after the trade deadline. Newly acquired players Noah Van Vliet (Brantford Bulldogs), Donovan McCoy (Peterborough Petes), and Sudbury native Zacharie Giroux (Flint Firebirds) were all in the lineup one day after being acquired in trades by the Wolves.
Before the game, Wolves forward Dalibor Dvorsky (Slovakia) and goaltender Jakub Vondras (Czechia) were honoured in a ceremony and given plaques for recently taking part in the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships for their respective countries. Vondras took home the bronze medal for Team Czechia.
Ryerson Leenders got the start in net for the Steelheads, while Nate Krawchuk got the nod in goal for the Wolves.
The Wolves won in the shots-on-goal department in the first period, going 9-6, in an uneventful period that ended in a scoreless tie.
The Steelheads would break the scoreless draw 3:45 into the second period when Luke Misa scored his 16th goal of the season to give Mississauga a 1-0 lead.
Throughout the period, the Wolves peppered Leenders with shots, but couldn’t find the back of the net until Landon McCallum scored his 14th goal of the season at the 12:24 mark of the middle frame to tie the game at 1-1. Dvorsky and Quentin Musty were credited with the assists on the goal.
The Steelheads would get a penalty shot in the second period, but again, a hot goalie stood in their way. Wolves’ netminder Krawchuk stymied Mississauga and the teams went into the dressing room for the second intermission tied 1-1 with one period remaining in the game.
It was a couple of poorly timed penalties that would undo the game for Sudbury.
At the 4:11 mark of the third period, Evan Konyen and Landon McCallum each took penalties for the Wolves just 10 seconds apart, for roughing and checking from behind respectively.
With a two-man advantage, the Steelheads went hunting for a goal and they got it thanks to Angus McDonnell, who scored the game-winner, his 13th of the season, to seal the victory for the Steelheads by a score of 2-1.
With the loss, the Sudbury Wolves now hold a record of 20 wins, 12 losses, three overtime losses, and two shootout losses, and remain in first place in both the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division and Eastern Conference.
The Wolves now hit the road for a three-game road trip. On Jan. 12, they are in Sarnia to take on the Sting with a scheduled start time of 7:05 p.m. Then, the team heads to Windsor to meet up with former Wolves’ defenseman Djibril Toure and the Spitfires on Jan. 13. That game has a scheduled start time of 7:05 p.m. The road trip wraps up in Barrie against the Colts on Jan. 18 with a scheduled start time of 7 p.m.
After the road trip the Wolves are back home on Jan. 19 for a game against the Erie Otters, also at 7:05 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
