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