It’s not uncommon for mistakes to be made at the Ontario Hockey League level.
For the Soo Greyhounds, those mistakes have tended to be magnified in what’s been a tough 2022-23 season.
Critical mistakes proved to be the difference for the Greyhounds on Wednesday night as the team wrapped up the road portion of the regular season schedule with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Sudbury Wolves at Sudbury Community Arena.
“We competed through the whole game,” said rookie forward Connor Clattenburg. “Once we got a goal scored on us, we didn’t stop going. The attitude on the bench was great. I felt like a few mistakes cost us the game.”
Greyhounds coach John Dean spoke of mistakes being critical for the Greyhounds in the loss.
“Major mistakes continue to bite us in the butt. That’s been the story of our year,” Dean said.
“There were so many good moments in the game followed by a catastrophic mistake,” Dean said. “When we make mistakes, we make big ones.”
Dean said he spoke to the team following the loss and talked about the approach with the season winding down.
“We talked about attitude, approach to the game, compete level and all three of those things, we had,” Dean said. “I can get behind that.”
“The only way you can show respect to your teammate is by putting out 110 per cent,” Dean added. “That’s the message right now.”
Sudbury got on the board first just 2:21 into the game as Landon McCallum scores in a rebound in close after Nicholas Yearwood took a turnover by Connor Toms in the left circle and was initially stopped by Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov.
McCallum made it a 2-0 game 2:19 into the second period when he grabbed a loose puck in the right circle and beat Ivanov short side as the net was coming loose. The goal was reviewed, but ultimately called a good goal.
Kocha Delic made it 3-0 Wolves when he kept the puck in at the blueline, skated through the slot and, as he skated into the left circle, beat Ivanov glove side 2:16 later.
After having a goal waved off moments after the Wolves made it a three-goal game, Clattenburg came back on the shift after the disallowed goal, grabbed a turnover by Wolves defenceman Braydon Bruce cut in toward the goal and beat Sudbury starter Kevyn Brassard with a deke to the glove side at 5:49.
Prior to the Clattenburg marker, a goal by defenceman Caleb Van De Ven was called back for goalie interference on a play in which Clattenburg was screening Brassard. Clattenburg said the disallowed goal was a little bit of added motivation for his goal.
“They called back the goal when (Van De Ven) scored and I was screening and that fired me up,” Clattenburg said.
Julian Fantino then made it a one-goal game at 8:23 when he took a drop pass from Bryce McConnell-Barker in the high slot and beat Brassard high stick side.
Sudbury made it a 4-2 game when Nolan Collins sent the puck into the slot where it deflected off Nathan Villeneuve and past Ivanov 5-hole just 36 seconds later.
With 10.9 seconds to go in the period, the Greyhounds again made it a one-goal game, this time on a two-man advantage. Kalvyn Watson got the puck in the left circle and beat Brassard short side to make it a 4-3 game heading to the third period.
The Wolves got some breathing room when Evan Konyen converted a chance in tight after Yearwood mishandled the puck in the left circle and it found its way toward the net at 14:46.
With Ivanov on the bench for an extra attacker, Konyen got his second of the night by scoring into an empty net with 3:04 to go in regulation time.
Wolves defenceman Matt Mania capped off the scoring when he broke down the left wing, cut toward the net and beat Ivanov with a backhand from in close that handcuffed the Sault netminder at 18:36.
McConnell-Barker had a pair of assists in the loss for the Greyhounds while Ivanov stopped 32 shots.
McCallum paced the Wolves with two goals and two assists. Yearwood added three assists for Sudbury in the win.
Brassard made 32 saves for Sudbury.
With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 18.30-9-6 on the season heading into their final homestand of the year.
The team returns to action on Friday night at home with a game against the Windsor Spitfires. It’s the first game of a weekend set between the two clubs that will wrap up 24 hours later. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 7:07 p.m. both nights.
“We just need to keep working and show that it’s there for next year,” Clattenburg said of the approach for the final four games of the season for the Greyhounds. “Most of the guys are returning and we all want to play for the three OAs (Mark Duarte, Kalvyn Watson, and Ryan Thompson) that are leaving. They did a lot for this team.”
The win clinches a playoff spot for the Wolves, who improve to 28-27-5-3 in the process. The Wolves sit seventh in the OHL’s Eastern Conference following play on Wednesday night and are four points behind Mississauga Steelheads, who also picked up a win on Wednesday.
Notes: Caeden Carlisle missed the game as he served the final game of his three-game suspension for the Greyhounds. He’s slated to return to the lineup this weekend.
Carlisle was one of a number of players who missed the game due to suspension.
Sudbury had three players out for similar reasons, Defencemen Djibril Toure and Dylan Robinson as well as forward Ethan Larmand were out for Sudbury due to suspensions.
In particular, Larmand was serving the third game of an eight-game suspension for his hit on Greyhounds defenceman Spencer Evans last week in the Sault.
Robinson was suspended for two games due to a slew-footing penalty over the weekend.