Sudbury waited three years to see Wolves playoff hockey, and the Pack didn’t disappoint, beating the Oshawa Generals 3-2, taking a 2-1 series lead.
“I think the city has been starving for it for a while, we were composed, we played against a good team, I thought our game was clean. We just managed the puck very well tonight,” said head coach Dave Matsos.
The Generals once again came out with a strong first half of the first period, but there was a difference between the Wolves of Sunday night’s 5-1 loss and the Wolves of Tuesday night, they were mean, they were physical and they were disciplined.
“We had 23 hits in the first period alone, so they came out. To be honest I thought the refs called a great game tonight for us, they let the guys go, they were pairing guys up when things were happening,” said Matsos.
The Wolves allowed two goals on eight power play opportunities Sunday, Tuesday the Gens went 0/6, not a big difference in number of power play chances, but the type of penalties were completely different.
The Generals led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Robbie Burt.
Who knows what was said in the first intermission, but C.J. Yakimowicz told us it was confidence and game plan that allowed them to score three in the second.
“We just knew that we were in the game the whole time, being down one goal doesn’t mean a lot to us. We just got to stick to our game plan and hit our points that we hit before the game, so if we just keep working and playing our game we can play with anyone in this league,” said Yakimowicz.
It had been since March 27, 2014 that a Wolves player scored a playoff goal on home ice and that was by former captain Danny Desrochers.
Six minutes into the second the Wolves had their goal from Dmitry Sokolov as a Generals penalty expired.
Then Macauley Carson finished off a tic-tac-toe play from David Levin and Sokolov on the power play to make it 2-1.
The Wolves didn’t stop there as Michael Pezzetta scored one of the nicest goals of the season, crossing the blue line shorthanded, using the Oshawa player as a screen he fired a shot that beat Jeremy Brodeur top corner before he could get his glove up.
But it wasn’t just those players who did work for the Wolves, it was all lines and all players contributing.
Matsos picked out one line that was very noticeable on the defensive side.
“I thought Levin, Sokolov and Lyszczarczyk were so responsible tonight, working on the topside of the puck, back checking, they’re buying in like everybody is. When things like that start to transpire it’s an easy game for a coach,” said Matsos.
With a 3-1 lead the Wolves did anything but play to hold the lead.
“I don’t want to sit back, I don’t want to go into a boring 1-2-2. The best thing to do is just to stay on the gas, what got you there, why would we change that,” said Matsos.
Not only did the Wolves not disappoint, the crowd brought their game as well.
“It was amazing, it’s like an extra man on the ice and I know that’s a cliche but it’s true. The crowd was great and obviously Sudbury’s happy that we got the playoffs back and the energy you could feel it, you could feel the buzz on the bench,” said Matsos.
For Pezzetta, who has waited three seasons for a playoff game, it was just as he imagined.
“That was amazing, the fan support was awesome, we pretty well packed the barn there tonight and to have a close game like that and give the fans something to cheer at the end of the game there it was an awesome feeling for everyone,” said Pezzetta.
The Wolves take a 2-1 series lead, take care of business in the first home game, but it’s far from a done deal.
Game 4 goes Thursday in Sudbury and the Wolves expect some major pushback from the Generals who rebounded well after a Game 1 loss.
“We expect them, they still want to come back and steal one in our rink and they have to now, so we expect them to come out strong but again the crowd helps,” said Matsos.
“The next game’s extremely important, again another game at home and we have to set the precedence of what it’s like to play at home again and I think going up 3-1 in the series would be huge going into Oshawa again. So I think for us it’s just come and play the same style of game that we played and carry that on into Thursday,” said Pezzetta.
Ryan Valentini missed the second straight game for Sudbury after taking a hit from Matt Brassard in game one, the team is calling it an upper body injury.
Jake McGrath picked up his second win stopping 33 of 35.
David Levin, Dmitry Sokolov, Liam Dunda, Kyle Capobianco, Macauley Carson, Michael Pezzetta and Patrick Sanvido all picked up points for the Wolves.
