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If Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League exhibition contest between the Soo Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves is any indication, the rivalry between the two clubs could be seeing an increase this season.
Marking the second of three pre-season meetings between the Northern Ontario rivals, the Wolves scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 win over the Greyhounds at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
In a game that brought with it some physicality and brewing bad blood between the teams, it was a game that was far from perfect at times for the Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring as Kalvyn Watson converted a chance in tight, beating Sudbury starter Mitchell Weeks.
Alex Assadourian got the Wolves back on even terms at 11:34 of the middle frame when he beat
In the opening minute of the third, rookie forward Quentin Musty got his second goal of the pre-season, beating Schenkel from the left circle to put Sudbury ahead for good.
Just under five minutes into the third, Cole Crowder put Sudbury ahead 3-1 moments after a faceoff win by Ethan Larmand.
Assadourian made it 4-1 just past the midway point of the third when he beat Schenkel glove side from the right faceoff circle with 9:40 to go.
Defenceman Joshua Hoover capped off the scoring for the Wolves, beating Schenkel with a shot from the left point in the final minutes of the contest.
Ivanov stopped all 14 shots he faced in just under 30 minutes of work in the game while Schenkel stopped 16 of 21 shots the rest of the way.
Weeks made 43 saves for the Wolves.
Landon McCallum and Kocha Delic assisted on a pair of goals for the Wolves.
While the game was a struggle after a solid start, Dean said seeing positives and negatives early on is “normal for this time of year.”
The three-game exhibition series between Sudbury and the Sault wraps up Oct. 1 in Sudbury.
The Wolves' regular season home opener is Oct. 8 against the Peterborough Petes. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.
