BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves snapped a seven-game
losing streak on Friday night with a 4-0 win over the Sarnia
Sting, but failed to gain momentum from the victory, as they
dropped their second game of the weekend, 5-2 to the Brampton
battalion Sunday.
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Marc Staal and Richard Clune
clashing in the corner. |
On Friday at the Sudbury Arena, the Wolves
clashed with the Sting.
Both teams were expected to display plenty of
fire works because they were the two most penalized squads in
the OHL.
They didn't disappoint as both teams
racked up six fighting majors.
The Wolves scored early when Bobby Chaumont
ripped the puck past Sting goalie Ryan Munce just 17 seconds
into the first period.
The quick goal didn't motivate the Wolves
too much as they were constantly beat to pucks for the rest of
the period, but another Wolves' goal by Alex Eaton at 10:24
seemed to stem the Sting tide.
The first period also saw witness to two
major scraps.
The Wolves' Kyle Musselman dropped the
mitts with Sting enforcer Marco Caprara, and they staged an
epic battle.
Musselman clocked Caprara with a heavy punch
to start the tilt that squashed Caprara's eye socket and
made a sickening pop.
Caprara was unfaded and threw back equally
hard punches. Both men stood toe-to-toe before Caprara got the
upper hand and sent Musselman crashing to the ice.
Then minutes later, Ryan Hastings battled
Kelsey Wilson. Both men threw big strikes, with Hastings
finally getting the upper hand on Wilson and punching him to
the ice.
The action picked up in the third period when
Rafal Martynowski sent the fans into an absolute frenzy with
his spin-o-rama move on Sting defenceman Chris Gravelding and
then deked Munce, slipping the puck underneath the helpless
goalie to make it 3-0 at 3:42.
Ryan McDonough added a late goal to ice the
win for the Wolves.
Wolves' goalie Patrick Ehelechner was the
first star due to his impressive 41-save shut out performance
against the Sting snipers.
The win was badly needed.
"It's something we needed to do," said
Wolves' head coach Mike Foligno. "We knew we could do it.
It was just a matter of having everybody just give a little
more."
The early first period tally by Chaumont was
crucial.
"It was really important," said Foligno. "We
hadn't been playing well and we needed some kind of a lift
to start the game. It was great to get one in the first shift
of the game."
The win was the right medicine for the
Wolves.
"All week we were mentally preparing for this
game," said Luke Dubbin. "We focused on the mental part of the
game and what we had to do, and this was a perfect example of
how we can play hockey."
The Wolves got the start they needed.
"We wanted to come out hard and challenge,"
said Chaumont. "Luckily we got the first goal and we never
looked back. We had to come into this game as positive as we
could. We know we have a good team in this dressing room, and
when we put it all together, it's awesome."
The game also featured a family moment for
rugged winger Musselman as he got the chance to play against
his younger brother, Kody, who was drafted by Sarnia this past
summer.
"It was an experience I will never forget,"
said Kyle. "He's like a little me out there. We were out
there slashing each other and laughing about it."
The Wolves joy ended quickly however on
Sunday in Brampton.
The Battalion built up a 3-1 lead in the
second period and never looked back, pummeling the Wolves 5-2
for their six straight loss on the road.
The Wolves got goals from Marc Staal and
Eaton.
Tyler Harrison scored two goals to lead the
Battalion. Howie Martin, Luch Aquino and Aaron Snow also scored
for the Battalion.
The Wolves last won on the road on Nov. 7,
when they beat Brampton 4-2.
The Wolves are now tied with the Barrie Colts
for fourth in the Central Division. The Wolves' record
stands at 11-14-3-2, god for 27 points.
The Wolves' next game is Tuesday against
the Kingston Frontenacs at the Sudbury Arena. Game time is 7:30
pm.
