Unreliable Wolves lose badly at home.

Unreliable Wolves lose badly at home…

Eerie: according to the Webster Dictionary, so weird, surprising, or mysterious that it gives you the chills

That doesn’t seem too far-fetched to describe the Sudbury Wolves’ Friday night game against the Otters in the Nickel City, but it may be a little extreme.

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It was definitely not attractive.

The Wolves, who were playing at home for the first time this season, struggled mightily and lost to the visiting Erie Otters 7-3. The home team’s final score was only marginally favourable.

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After 20 minutes of play, the club in fourth place in the Midwest division, one point ahead of the Owen Sound Attack, would lead 2-0, and after two periods, 5-1, while Sudbury managed only 26 shots on goal.

Even though the Otters outscored them by only two points in SOG, coach Stan Butler and crew were more than pleased to capitalise on Sudbury mistakes because of the Pack’s conspicuous defensive shortcomings.

Bruce McDonald’s goal at 6:09 and the terrible Wolves giveaway in their own end that resulted in a goal from Carey Terrance, with Alexis Daviault earning his second assist of the game, put an end to any momentum the team may have had from their 7-3 victory over the Barrie Colts on the road on Thursday night.

Nine seconds before the half, Ondrej Molnar’s power play marker at 3:49 in the second period signalled the start of a particularly difficult stretch for Sudbury starting goalie Marcus Vandenberg, as Brett Bressette and Martin Misiak scored goals less than three minutes apart.

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Just two seconds after Owain Johnston’s penalty had expired, Dalibor Dvorsky gave the boisterous home crowd of over 4,000 fans a small cause for celebration. Nevertheless, coach Ken MacKenzie’s team was unable to capitalise on the moment of optimism.

In the third quarter, Kaleb Smith gave the Otters their five-goal lead back. Next, on the power play, David Goyette and Evan Konyen, who had Jakub Vondras removed for an extra attacker, completed the Wolves’ offensive output for the evening. Just over a minute later, with Vondras back on the bench, Bressette scored his second goal of the game, his stick swatted as he tried to sink an empty-net marker.

A later-than-anticipated return to Sudbury affected the early game plan, even though they weren’t going to use the Thursday journey to Barrie as an excuse when they took the ice sixteen hours later.

“We knew we had to play a little different brand of hockey last night, playing, getting in late,” MacKenzie said.

At first, we lacked the necessary enthusiasm. All we were attempting to do was keep pucks out of our goal and move our legs. Regaining that game was difficult once we got into it.

If there is a drawback to the Wolves’ ultra-skilled victories, as they demonstrated against the Colts the night before, it is that they may encourage a certain style of play that is ineffective against elite opponents. Coach MacKenzie and his staff are all too familiar with this reality.

“We played well last night; pucks were falling in for us,” he said. On certain nights, we like to run and shoot, but our men know they’re better than that. It’s difficult to slip behind. We missed a few early opportunities tonight that may have significantly altered the course of the hockey game.

This was an all-around disheartening performance for a squad that has more often than not allowed the home crowd to scream enthusiastically throughout the game—please show seven of the previous home games when the Wolves have scored seven goals or more.

According to MacKenzie, “nobody likes to lose at home, especially with a big crowd and everything.” “Our coaching team has taught them that nothing worthwhile comes easily. They will put forth a lot of effort, and that is how we will overcome this. It will be a collaborative effort.

“A small amount of hardship is OK.”

In reality, it’s inescapable throughout a 68-game season.

“There are some excellent leaders in that room,” MacKenzie said. With the additions from last week, we’ve been together for a little over a week. We also added a few more captains and increased the level of leadership in that area.