A slow start was the ultimate undoing of the Sudbury Wolves on Wednesday night as they fell behind 3-0 in the first period en route to a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
The boys from the Soo came out firing on Wednesday, with Cole MacKay putting the home team up 1-0 just 1:10 into the game, potting his 15th goal of the season.
Jaromir Pytlik doubled the lead for the Hounds at the 6:24 with his team on the powerplay after a Kalle Loponen tripping penalty.
The Greyhounds weren't done there, as Zack Trott scored his ninth goal of the season, with his team once again on the powerplay thanks to a Brady Maltais holding penalty, and the Greyhounds skated into the first intermission with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Cole MacKay was at it again in the early going of the second period, firing home his second goal of the game and his 16th on the season just over two minutes into the second period. The teams traded penalties and chances through the middle portion of the second frame, before David Levin finally got the Wolves on the board on the powerplay, netting his 15th goal of the season.
The score held at 4-1 as the buzzer went to end the second period, with the Wolves being outshot 15-8 in the period and 30-20 overall.
A sluggish start to the period once again bit the Wolves, as Jaden Peca scored his 11th goal of the season just 1:33 into the third, putting the home team very much in the driver's seat at 5-1.
Sudbury did show some fight back as David Levin scored a seldom seen shorthanded penalty shot goal, before Peter Stratis scored his first goal of the season to claw the Wolves back to within two goals.
The Greyhounds buckled down and held the fort however, and Rory Kerins netted his 15th goal of the season with less than five minutes to play to put the Soo up 6-3.
David Levin had a strong showing in the loss, factoring in on all three Wolves goals, scoring two and adding an assist on Stratis' marker, earning him third star of the game.
Cole Mackay took first star for the Greyhounds with a three-point night of his own, including scoring the game-winning goal. Billy Constantinou of the Greyhounds was named second star thanks to his trio of assists that all came in the first period.
Wolves goaltender Christian Purboo wasn't given a ton of support on the evening as he was bombarded with 40 shots by the Greyhounds and getting beat six times. Bailey Brkin turned aside 27 of 30 Wolves shots on the night and earned his eighth win of the season.
The loss doesn't amount to much for the Wolves in terms of the standings as they still hold a comfortable cushion in the Central Division over the Barrie Colts, leading the Barrie boys by eight points.
On the flip side, the win was a big one for the Greyhounds, who have bounced back from a rough stretch between October and November that saw them lose nine of 11 games. With the win, the Greyhounds have now won four of their last five and have collected nine of a possible 10 points to move into eighth place in the Western Conference.
The Wolves will return home this weekend for back to back games on Friday and Saturday against the Erie Otters and Owen Sound Attack respectively. The boys have just three games remaining before the holiday break and will take on the London Knights next Friday at home.
