Skip to content

Wolves continue winning ways beating Greyhounds twice

The Sudbury Wolves continue to be one of the hottest teams in the OHL.

The Sudbury Wolves continue to be one of the hottest teams in the OHL.

name="valign" top >
Sudbury Wolves rookie Nick Foligno, shown above trapped between two Soo Greyhound defenders, had a great weekend scoring goals in both Sudbury wins over the Greyhounds this past weekend.
The Wolves nipped the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3-2 Friday night at the Sudbury Arena, and then beat them again Sunday in Sault Ste. Marie 3-0.

With the two big wins, the Wolves have now forged an 8-2 record in their last 10 games.

The Wolves are now also tied with the Mississauga IceDogs for third spot in the Central Division with 43 points.

The Wolves are also fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 19-15-3-2.

On Friday, the Wolves overcame a sluggish start and some soft goals to clip the Greyhounds.

The Soo enjoyed a 2-0 lead in the second period thanks to a soft first period goal by Andrew Desjardins and an early second period goal by Kyle Wharton.

Patrick Ehelechner was yanked from the net in favour of Kevin Beech after allowing two goals on 10 shots.

Beech came in and made a difference, shutting down the Soo for the rest of the game. Beech finished the game with 18 saves.

The Wolves bounced right back with three unanswered goals.

First, Ben Pouliot picked up a loose puck in the slot and fired it home to make it 2-1.

Then, Rafal Martynowski picked up a rebound and slammed it home on the power play to tie the game early in the third period.

The game was decided by Nick Foligno, who scored a wonderful wraparound goal to put the Wolves up 3-2.

When the final buzzer sounded, an epic heavyweight battle erupted between Zack Stortini and the Soo's Brad Staubitz. Both combatants threw punches for about two minutes, going toe-to-toe, before the linesmen broke up the tilt.

Head coach and general manager Mike Foligno was pleased with the efforts of his players.

"We were down, and we had the opportunity to get Kevin Beech in there and get some life and spark going," said Foligno. "All of a sudden the guys picked up and we scored a timely goal.

"Right after we scored that goal, the momentum just picked up for us and we started taking the play to them more and more the rest of the game. We had some players that found a way to win. It was a good effort on everyone's part. Our defence moved the puck well and clamped down in front of the net. Our forwards were really responsible at both ends of the ice."

Beech felt great to get in some coveted game time, especially in front of the hometown crowd.

"I played well and the guys in front of me were unbelievable,"said Beech. "I haven't played much at home. It was great to get that first win of the season. It's a big boost for my confidence."

Nick Foligno was thrilled with scoring the game winner.

"Everyone played well tonight," said the younger Foligno. "We played hard and physical. We got our chances and put them in. I was just happy to help them team out and it was good to see the goal was the game winner."

The Wolves got goals from Foligno, Stortini and Mike Mills in the big road win in Sault Ste. Marie.

Ehelechner returned to form by stopping all 27 shots he faced.

The Sunday game also marked the end to the Bell Challenge Cup. The Greyhounds won the series with three wins. The Wolves won two. The other game ended in a 3-3 draw.

The Wolves hit the ice this weekend for a wild three games in three nights.

On Friday, they play the Plymouth Whalers at the Sudbury Arena. Game time is 7:30 pm. The team then hits the road for a contest in Barrie against the Colts on Saturday. The Wolves close out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon game at the Sudbury Arena against the Windsor Spitfires. Game time is 2 pm.





Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.