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Wolves winless with Byfield away

Greyhounds claim their third victory of six season matchups
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Sudbury Wolves' Blake Murray named third star in Saturday's game against the Soo. (File)

A little more than two weeks after being pushed from the win column by their northern rivals, the Sudbury Wolves returned to GFL Memorial Gardens to face the Soo Greyhounds once again without the help of star-center Quinton Byfield. 

The game got off to a strong start for the Wolves, but would eventually turn in favour of the Greyhounds once the team had a chance to chase out their first-period netminder.

In the end, consistent pressure throughout the game allowed the Soo to claim their third victory over the pack this season with a 4-3 final. 

Sudbury Wolves' Blake Murray earned third star in the matchup, behind Greyhounds' Ethan Taylor and Zack Trott. 

Murray broke open the game with his 16th goal of the evening at 7:56, after several strong shots from either side of the ice. The Carolina Hurricanes' prospect was assisted in the play by teammates Owen Gilhula and Kalle Loponen. 

The Wolves delivered two more goals a little less than six minutes later before the Greyhounds Ethan Taylor took over for Bailey Brkin between the pipes. 

The first goal was made by Owen Robinson, with assistance from Emmett Serensits and Nathan Ribau. While the second, was delivered by Isaak Phillips with help from Macauley Carson and Nolan Hutcheson. 

The Soo took their place on the scoreboard shortly thereafter with Tye Kartye's 15th goal of the season, assisted by Trott and Billy Constantinou. Greyhounds Jaden Peca bumped this score to two just under two minutes later with his 12th goal of the season, accompanied by Alex Johnston. 

Sudbury was up one after the first 20 minutes, outshooting their hosts 15-10 in the period. 

Both teams struggled to beat their opposing goaltender in the second period, causing a lagging stalemate for the first 10 minutes. 

In the end, it was Trott, who with the help of Kartye and Tanner Dickinson, beat Wolves' Mitchell Weeks to bring the scoreboard to an even 3-3. 

Greyhounds pushed ahead in shots on goal in the second period, 12-11. 

Tempers flared in the final frame as both teams fought to push ahead, resulting in eight minutes of penalty time for the Wolves for elbowing, diving, hooking and tripping. The Greyhounds, on the other hand, spent six minutes behind glass for cross-checking, roughing and interference. 

Soo' Robert Calisti took advantage of this tension to deliver the Greyhounds' final blow during a power play at 14:04, with assistance from Constantinou. 

The game closed off at a 4-3 final in favour of the Soo.

Sudbury outshot their visitors 8-7 in the final frame and 34-39 overall.

The Sudbury Wolves remain first in the Central Division, second in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the league overall, with 18 wins and 16 losses. 

The pack finishes off their road trip in North Bay Dec. 31, before returning for two back-to-back faceoffs at the Elgin Street Barn. 


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