Hounds drop exhibition finale to Wolves

In a game that featured little flow and numerous penalties, the Soo Greyhounds wrapped up their pre-season schedule on Sunday evening with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Sudbury Wolves.

The game, which was the Hounds fourth meeting with the Wolves in four exhibition games, had little chance to get into a groove. Penalties continued to mount throughout the game and included two 5-on-3 advantages in the third period, one coming to each club.

Rafal Martynowski, who was solid for the Wolves all night, opened the scoring on the power play at 11:39 of the first period when he knocked a rebound past Hounds starter Kyle Gajewski, who also put in a solid effort.

The Hounds suffered a major loss near the midway point of the second period when Hounds veteran centre Tyler Kennedy was hit with a major penalty and a game misconduct for slashing at 7:55, a penalty that the Hounds were able to kill off.

The score stayed at 1-0 until the 12:34 mark of the middle frame when, with the Greyhounds a man short, Jeff Carter pulled the Greyhounds even with a highlight reel goal. Carter picked up the puck from Hounds' defenceman Brad Staubitz, shifted in front of the net and slid the puck past Sudbury goaltender Patrick Ehelechner.

The tie was short-lived though as Martynowski scored the only even strength goal of the evening converting a feed from Nick Foligno to send the game into the third with the Wolves up 2-1.

The score remained that way through the third period despite both teams getting chances to change that. The Wolves picked up a two-man advantage early in the period but could not capitalize.

At 13:05, the Wolves had another opportunity to pad their lead when Hounds centre Chris Lawrence was handed a double-minor for spearing.

Possibly the best scoring chance of the game came in the penalty's opening minute when Benoit Pouliot of the Wolves took a cross-ice feed and fired a shot at the gaping Greyhound goal, only to have Gajewski come sliding cross-crease to knock the puck out of harms way.

Late in the third, the Hounds had their opportunity to tie the game when Pouliot was given a penalty and the Hounds were blessed with a two-man advantage for 1:22.

The Hounds could not manage to sustain any pressure and their hopes for a win slipped away as the Wolves held on for the 2-1 victory in front of 1,742 fans at Memorial Gardens.

The loss was the Hounds third in four pre-season games.

Hounds coach Marty Abrams came away from the game pleased with the play of his goaltender, Gajewski, who put in a strong effort. Abrams added that his save on Pouliot in the third period was huge.

Abrams added that he was also pleased with his special teams play, saying that he is pleased with the idea that he has a number of players he can use on the power play and penalty kill.

"That save (on Pouliot) kept us in the game," Abrams said. "(Gajewski) came out of the pre-season solid. He's a real confident kid. We'll give (Jakub Cech) every opportunity to be the number one goaltender, but Kyle's going to be pushing him.

"(Hounds assistant coach Denny Lambert) has worked really well with the penalty kill," Abrams added. "I really like what we're doing there. I'm happy with our special teams. We have kind of established two different power play units and we like the group of guys that we have."

Abrams went on to say that, with the Ontario Hockey League regular season set to open up this week, he is happy that injuries have not become a factor to the team yet, but he was concerned about the suspension of overage forward Reg Thomas for a slash that occurred in the Hounds pre-season opener as well as a possible suspension of Kennedy.

Kennedy was handed a spearing major on Sunday night, and Abrams hopes they don't become a major factor when the Greyhounds open up the regular season next weekend at home.

The Hounds, with the pre-season in the books, look ahead to their regular season and home opener set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. when the Erie Otters make their only appearance at Memorial Gardens.

On Sunday, the Greyhounds will meet up with the Ottawa 67's in their only afternoon game at home this season beginning at 2 p.m.