Greyhounds veterans rebound in key victory (video, 8 photos)

They trailed by three goals in the third period, but the Soo Greyhounds veteran players made sure they made up for some early mistakes on Wednesday night.

The Greyhounds scored three times in the third period, including goals by veterans Kalvyn Watson and Rory Kerins before Tye Kartye scored in overtime to give the Greyhounds a 5-4 Ontario Hockey League win over the Sudbury Wolves at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

It was the veteran players who refused to let the game get away from them for the Greyhounds following some costly mistakes earlier in the contest.

“Our older and more experience players actually cost us a couple of goals against, but what I really give them credit for is they’re very vocal about making sure that we made a comeback and they were integral in making sure that we did,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “That’s what’s special about our older group is that when they make mistakes, they make up for them.”

Kerins. who finished the night with two goals and two assists, said had a message for the rest of the team between the second and third periods.

“Two goals in the second period were definitely solely on me,” Kerins said. “In the intermission I went into the room and said we were going to win this game.”

“Those were a big two points,” Kerins added. “When you look at the standings, everyone is pretty tight so we have to get all the points we can get. We were still in the game.”

Wolves coach Craig Duncanson said some mental fatigue played a role in the game for Sudbury.

“I think it was more mental fatigue,” Duncanson said. “We physically worked hard and battled against a fast, stronger team. The wheels got loose on the wagon. I don’t think we got a lot of help with the officiating, but that’s the way it goes. We still should have been able to overcome that.

After a scoreless opening period, Sudbury got on the board in the second period when Michael Derbidge redirected a pass in close from Giordano Biondi past Tucker Tynan just over three minutes into the second period.

Just 2:37 later, Dominik Jendek tucked the puck past Tynan on a breakaway to extend the lead.

The Wolves pulled ahead 3-0 at 7:45 as Kocha Delic converted a pass from Chase Stillman after a Sault turnover.

The Greyhounds cut the lead to 3-1 at 17:14 when Kerins finished off a passing play with Kartye by beating Sudbury netminder Mitchell Weeks.

Sudbury restored the three-goal lead at 2:13 of the third when Derbidge got his second of the night, beating Tynan on a breakaway.

Kalvyn Watson cut the Sudbury lead back down to two when he redirected a pass from Kerins past Weeks at 4:15.

Owen Allard then cut the Wolves lead to one when he beat Weeks from the left faceoff circle at 5:10.

Kerins proceeded to tie the game with 2:22 to go in regulation time with a power play goal.

The veteran forward had his initial shot blocked and grabbed the loose puck before beating Weeks high from the right circle to knot the game up at four.

“We had a four-on-three for a little bit and the guys were coming out of the box so I decided to take a one-timer and their guy blocked it was sitting there, so I beat the guys to the puck and just tried to throw it high on net,” Kerins said of the goal.

Dean said that, while pleased with a 10-minute stretch in the third, there was a three- or four-minute stretch prior to the goal in which “I thought we lacked a little push there.”

“Once again, special teams comes through, but when we get rolling, we can be pretty special,” Dean added. “Especially our seasoned guys get a sniff that we have a shot here and have a never-say-die attitude. They do a really good job of bringing us back into hockey games.”

Kartye ended the contest 1:12 into the extra frame when he beat Weeks up under the crossbar from the slot.

“If you give Karts a shot from the slot, he’s probably going to score,” Kerins said of the winner.

“It was a nice kick out from Rory and I just tried to attack the middle,” Kartye said. “I had a lot of shots on net (in the game) and one was bound to go in.”

After breaking his wrist in October in a game against the Wolves, Watson returned to the lineup Wednesday, as did rookie forward Tyler Savard, who had also missed an extended time due to injury.

“(Watson) played a very good game. He could have had two of three goals tonight and showed a lot of confidence,” Dean said. “Savvy brought a physical element to the game which I think we’ve been lacking over the last three or four games. It was exciting for the group. He brings some life to the bench”

Watson said it “felt awesome” to return to the lineup.

“Just going through the routine again of preparing for a game and being around the guys,” Watson said. “Playing felt unreal. It was good to get the win in my first game back and contribute a little bit.”

Weeks finished the night with 30 saves for the Wolves and earned praise from his coach.

“Mitchell is a consummate professional,” Duncanson said. “He goes about his business. It could have been really ugly really early if not for him.”

Tynan finished the night with 22 saves for the Greyhounds.

Kartye also had two assists for the Greyhounds in addition to the game winner while rookie defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev also assisted on a pair of goals.

Alex Assadourian assisted on two goals for Sudbury.

The Greyhounds played Wednesday’s game without overage forward Cole MacKay, who missed the game with a lower body injury. The veteran forward was hurt in the Greyhounds final game before the Christmas break in Kitchener.

The Greyhounds left the Sault immediately following Wednesday’s game to head south to Saginaw ahead of a game on Thursday night against the Spirit.

The Greyhounds will carry a 16-9-2-0 record into Thursday’s game.

Wednesday’s win took on added meaning as the team moved two points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires atop the OHL’s West Division standings after the Spitfires dropped a 6-3 decision in Kitchener on Tuesday night against the Rangers.

The Wolves come out of Wednesday’s game with an 8-13-2-0 record.