In past years, the Soo Greyhounds had an ability to go toe-to-toe offensively with most teams, but this year isn’t one of those years.
Looking to send 2022 out on a positive note, the Soo Greyhounds looked to the offensive side of the game to carry them and it cost them as they dropped a 7-5 Ontario Hockey League decision to the Sudbury Wolves at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
Playing in front of their biggest home crowd of the year, the Greyhounds traded goals with the Wolves throughout much of the contest, but, in the end, they couldn’t carry it through 60 minutes.
“We can’t play run-and-gun,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “We’re the lowest scoring team in the league right now and we’re trying to play run-and-gun, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
“We’re giving up way too much,” second year forward Justin Cloutier added. “We can’t go toe-to-toe with teams like that. We have to play good defensively and not cheat to the offensive side.”
“Our five-man defence has to improve,” Cloutier also said. “Coming back from the Christmas break, we should have been recharged and ready to go. We came out flat and it definitely sucks being in a five-game losing streak.”
Dean added that discipline was a concern as well in the loss.
“We were frustrated. They were trying to get under our skin, and they did a good job of that, and our guys got frustrated and took some careless penalties,” Dean said.
Dean also said that “guys have already taken ownership of it.”
“We can’t be taking that many penalties,” Cloutier said of the discipline in the game. “A couple of those penalties, guys were standing up for each other, which I don’t mind, but there were a couple that we’d definitely like back. We don’t want to be in the box or playing four-on-four.”
The loss is the fifth straight for the Greyhounds, who have surrendered 33 goals in that span, which dates back to a 9-0 loss in Kitchener on Dec. 16.
“We’re a very inconsistent club from period to period,” Dean said when asked about the skid.
Wolves assistant general manager Ken MacKenzie said the Wolves knew the game would be a grind.
“We knew coming into today’s game, we were going to have to find a way to grind it out,” MacKenzie said.
MacKenzie, who was filling in for suspended Wolves head coach Derek MacKenzie, was pleased with his team's ability to bounce back each time the Greyhounds tied the game before capping off the win late.
“The team is starting to mature,” MacKenzie said. “These guys are getting a little bit older. These guys are finding ways. They want to win. They don’t want to be one of those teams not in the playoffs and we certainly don’t want to wait until the end of March to try to find those wins. This is where those wins and those points are going to mean a lot to us.”
The Wolves wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Nick DeGrazia beat Greyhounds starter Samuel Ivanov with a sharp-angle shot from near the bottom of the left circle 46 seconds into the contest.
Tyler Savard tied the game at one for the Greyhounds as he beat Wolves goaltender Joe Ranger with a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle high stick side on the power play at 8:19.
Just over four minutes later, Ethan Larmand gave the Wolves a 2-1 lead when he potted a rebound off to the side of the goal after a point shot by Jacob Holmes missed the net and deflected off the end boards back toward the slot.
Jordan D’Intino made it a 2-2 game at 14:25 when he scored on a rebound after Ranger initially stopped a shot from the right faceoff circle by Greyhounds defenceman Andrew Gibson.
The Wolves took a 3-2 lead at 6:06 of the second period when Evan Konyen beat Ivanov stick side on a breakaway after a turnover by Savard near the Wolves' blueline.
Sudbury took a 4-2 lead when David Goyette beat Ivanov with a shot stick side from the left faceoff circle at 8:41.
With the Greyhounds on the power play, Mark Duarte made it a one-goal game as he looked to make a pass and it deflected past Ranger off a Sudbury player.
Goyette made it a 5-3 game just 46 seconds into the third period when he beat Ivanov high short side from the left faceoff circle.
On the next shift, Matthew Virgilio made it a 5-4 game when he beat Ranger with a shot from the left circle 5-hole.
The Greyhounds tied the game at five when Brenden Sirizzotti cut in from the right wing and beat Ranger high glove side from in tight at 6:30.
DeGrazia gave the Wolves the lead for the final time in the game when he beat Ivanov high glove side from the left faceoff circle at 14:03.
DeGrazia then sealed the win with an empty net goal with 90 seconds to go in regulation.
Duarte and Sirizzotti had a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds.
Bryce McConnell-Barker and Kirill Kudryavtsev assisted on two goals each.
Ivanov made 27 saves in the loss.
In addition to the three-goal night from DeGrazia, Landon McCallum assisted on four goals while Kocha Delic added three helpers for the Wolves.
Goyette finished the day with two goals and an assist.
Ranger stopped 22 shots for Sudbury.
With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 10-14-6-4 and sit tied with the Guelph Storm for eighth in the OHL’s Western Conference. After dropping a 3-2 decision to the Windsor Spitfires on Friday night, Guelph is scheduled to play on the road tonight against the Barrie Colts.
With a game in hand on the Storm after today’s results, the Greyhounds will return to action on Wednesday night against the Kitchener Rangers.
Saturday’s win improves Sudbury’s record to 12-17-3-0. The team is one point ahead of the Oshawa Generals for eighth in the Eastern Conference.