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Wolves beat second best ranked team in CHL

BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW [email protected] The Sudbury Wolves took full advantage of the Owen Sound Attack's Achilles Heel yesterday, scoring two power play goals en route to an important 3-2 win at the Sudbury Arena Sunday afternoon.

BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW

The Sudbury Wolves took full advantage of the Owen Sound Attack's Achilles Heel yesterday, scoring two power play goals en route to an important 3-2 win at the Sudbury Arena Sunday afternoon.

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An Owen Sound Attack defender keeps a close eye on Sudbury Wolves rookie sniper Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot was the hero Sunday scoring the game winner with less than eight minutes to play in a big 3-2 win by Sudbury Sunday afternoon.
The Attack, ranked the second best team in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), feature the 17th worst penalty killing in the OHL, and the Wolves took full advantage when they had the man advantage.

Rookie sensation Ben Pouliot scored at 12:35 of the third period on the power play (his second of the game) to seal the big win for the Wolves.

With three fights in the game, and intense physical play, Wolves head coach and general manager Mike Foligno knows the rough style helped propel his squad to victory.

"Both teams have a lot of pride," said Foligno. "That team is a pretty physical team. We had to compete at that level, and the way that we compete the best is by finishing checks, skating as well as any other club can skate, and I thought, we had to respond physically, and our players did respond physically.

"We took the body right from the first shift of the game to the last shift of the game. It made a difference. It slowed them down a little bit more and maybe kept them from getting a couple more opportunities to score."

Foligno was impressed with his players' desire and execution, especially after a disappointing 4-3 loss to Toronto on Friday night.

"We paid attention to detail a little bit more, and we had everybody buying in again to the work ethic and the team concept," said Foligno. We had scorers scoring, the muckers mucking and the hitters hitting...and Kevin Beech played really solidly in net for us."

The game marked the debut of Troy Murray, a six-foot-three, 215-pound defenceman , who had been playing Junior A with the Bowmanville Eagles of the OPJHL. Murray is up with the team to replace injured defenceman Ryan Hastings, who's out with an injured ankle.

Murray had one goal, five points, and 38 penalty minutes in 24 games with the Eagles.

The game also featured former Wolves' defencman Kyle Lamb, who was traded to the Attack at the OHL trade deadline for centre Kevin Baker.

Lamb was held off the scoresheet, as was Baker.

Murray showed he could play, and Foligno likes his character. Foligno was looking at bringing Murray in earlier in the season, but he suffered a broken jaw, which set him back.

"I thought he played really steady for us," said Foligno. "He's overcome a lot of adversity to get here. He showed he's capable of playing."

A win over the Attack provides a big boost to the Wolves dressing room.

"We played a really strong game," said Rafal Martynowski, who recorded a goal and two assists. "Kevin Beech really helped us win that game. He played great. We knew what we could accomplish, especially after we beat London earlier this season. We can beat any team in this league as long as we have our A game going."

Wolves' captain Zack Stortini was proud of his team's aggressive play.

"Our team is starting to come together," said Stortini. "We are all working hard. Each and every guy did their job. There's no reason we can't be one of the premier teams in the league. It was a hard fought battle all game."

The Attack scored first, when Jonathan Lehun circled the net and fired a shot past Beech at 4:26.

Stortini, in an effort to fire up his team, dropped the gloves with Attack heavyweight Robin Big Snake minutes later.

The boys stood toe-to-toe, and threw many haymakers. The two giants battled to a draw.

The ploy worked as just minutes later Martynowski ripped a goal past Attack goalie Mike Brown on the power play at 13:50 to tie the game.

The Attack stormed ahead in the second when Big Snake tapped the puck in past Beech on the power play at 5:06 of the second period.

The Wolves responded quickly though, when Pouliot tipped a Marc Staal point shot past brown at 8:47.

The teams exchanged chances in the third, but it was Pouliot who did the damage. Pouliot slammed the puck past Brown from the side of the net on a power play at 12:35 for the win.

Beech earned his fourth victory of the season by making 20 saves. It also marked his fourth straight win.

With the victory, the Wolves are now third in the Central Division with a record of 22-18-3-4, good for 51 points. They are only four points behind Peterborough for the overall lead in the conference.

On Friday, the Wolves lost 4-3 to the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. The Wolves overcame a 3-0 lead in the third period to tie the game, but allowed the game to slip away on a goal by Ryan Wilson just 46 seconds after the tying goal was scored.

Ryan McDonough, Bobby Chaumont and Martynowski scored for the Wolves in the loss.

Patrick Ehelechner made 21 saves in the defeat.

The Wolves are back in action this weekend as they host the Barrie Colts on Friday night. Game time at the Sudbury Arena is 7:30 pm.

The Wolves then hit the road for games against Mississauga and Oshawa on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.







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