Greyhounds finish up and down night on a high in Sudbury

It certainly had its ups and downs, but in the end, the two points in the standings were what mattered most.

After a split at home over the weekend, the Soo Greyhounds went on the road and picked up an overtime win against the Sudbury Wolves Wednesday night, giving the team a critical two points in the Ontario Hockey League standings.

Andrew Gibson scored the overtime winner while goaltender Charlie Schenkel shone as the locals picked up a 3-2 victory at Sudbury Community Arena.

The play of Schenkel continued a strong stretch for the veteran netminder.

“Charlie was exceptional,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We don’t win that game without Charlie, there’s no doubt about it.”

Dean added that the 19-year-old “has really started to provide consistency in his game.”

“The guys are playing in front of him with a very confident brand of hockey,” Dean added.

“I feel like it’s in a really good spot right now,” Schenkel said of his recent play. “A lot of hard work put into it and I’m happy with the direction our team and my game is going.”

Schenkel also credited working with Greyhounds goalie coach Mark Visentin and the work done of late to help the netminder along.

Dean said he felt the Greyhounds “played a slow brand of hockey” in the opening period.

“The second period, we were dominant. We had a really sharp second period,” Dean added.

Dean also said the team needs to “find a way to capitalize on our chances” in periods like Wednesday’s middle frame.

In discussing the third period, Dean said he felt the Greyhounds “mismanaged the score, we mismanaged the puck, no understanding of time and place and we allowed them to climb back into the hockey game.”

After a scoreless opening period, the Greyhounds opened the scoring late in the second period on the power play. After a one-timer by Caeden Carlisle from the right circle on a pass from Brady Martin was stopped by Wolves goaltender Jakub Vondras, Marco Mignosa scored on the rebound in tight with 2:50 to go in the second period.

With a minute to go in the period, Bryce McConnell-Barker made it a 2-0 game, beating Vondras high stick side from the left faceoff circle.

Sudbury got on the board in the third period as Dalibor Dvorsky skated the puck into the Greyhounds zone and beat Schenkel high stick side from the left faceoff circle to cut into the Greyhounds lead.

With the Greyhounds shorthanded in the final minute of regulation time, the Wolves forced the extra frame thanks to a goal by David Goyette, who took a pass from Nick DeAngelis at the left point through a seam and beat Schenkel from the right faceoff circle with 2.5 seconds to go in the period.

The penalty that led to the winner, which was a delay of game minor to Owen Allard off a faceoff with 1:37 to go, was one that Dean said, could have gone either way.

“It easily could have been debated that Ally was pushed while he was down,” Dean said.

In the extra frame, Gibson took a pass from Justin Cloutier and proceeded to drop the puck to Allard while circling the Sudbury zone and found himself alone near the Sudbury goal and redirected a pass from Allard past Vondras 2:09 into the extra frame to give the Greyhounds the win.

Gibson finished the night with a goal and an assist for the visitors in the victory.

“You black out for a second and it’s a great feeling,” Gibson said of the feeling of scoring an overtime winner.

Schenkel made 26 saves for the Greyhounds.

The veteran netminder has now won three of his past four starts.

At the other end, Vondras stopped 27 shots.

Landon McCallum assisted on both Sudbury goals in the loss.

The Greyhounds are slated to return home for a pair of games this weekend before wrapping up the pre-Christmas portion of the regular season schedule on the road.

The team will host the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night before facing the London Knights on Sunday afternoon, both at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

Thanks to Wednesday’s victory, the Greyhounds will take an 18-8-2-0 record into the weekend and hold a five-point lead on the Saginaw Spirit in the battle for first in the OHL’s West Division.

The Spirit have three games in hand on the Greyhounds and also return to action on Friday night when they face the London Knights in London.

With a game in hand on the Western Conference-leading Kitchener Rangers, the Greyhounds trail Kitchener by five points for top spot in the conference.

Sudbury falls to 13-10-2-1 with the loss, but the single point for losing in overtime pulls the team into a tie with the Brantford Bulldogs for fifth in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

Notes: Allard was also among the players named to the Canadian National Junior Team selection camp by Hockey Canada, which begins on Sunday.

Asked about Allard's inclusion, Dean said Allard is "no longer the best-kept secret in the Ontario Hockey League."