There have been no warm welcomes for the Wolves on the road so far this season. The Wolves are 0-4 away from the Sudbury arena, and have been out-scored 18-6 in the process. The Wolves are coming off a 6-4 road loss at the hands of the Barrie Colts. Overall, Sudbury has lost seven straight games.
The return of forward Nick Baptiste is still unclear. The team hoped to have the electrifying scorer back in the line-up for the road trip. It now looks like Baptiste will not be playing until at least next week. Baptiste has been out since the pre-season with an upper body injury. With the Wolves scoring woes on the front burner, Baptiste, who lead the team last season with 45 goals and 89 points, is sorely missed.
Penalties continues to be a sore spot for the Wolves. They are one of the most penalized teams in the league and it certainly doesn’t help their chances of winning games. The Wolves would be wise to keep their discipline against Erie. The Otters have the best home power play in the league. After six games, it was at 44.4 percent success rate. The Wolves road penalty killing isn’t good news. They sit in the lower half of the league at 68.4 percent.
Somehow, the Wolves also must turn the tide when it comes to shots against. Goalies Troy Timpano and Sam Tanguay are under constant siege. The Wolves are allowing an average of 42 shots per game. In the 6-4 loss to Barrie last Saturday, Sudbury surrendered 38 shots. In last Friday’s 8-2 home loss to Owen Sound, Sudbury was peppered for 48 shots. Cutting the shots against will no doubt play into favour for the Wolves.
Lining up with dogs and otters
The Wolves visit two teams at the opposite ends of the win-loss spectrum this weekend. The Erie Otters started the season at 6-0, while the Niagara IceDogs started at 0-6. Erie played Wednesday versus London, while Niagara plays Thursday against Belleville. Here’s a quick look at the opponents.
Erie
Overwhelming is the only word to describe the offensive force of the Otters, who racked up 37 goals for in the first six games. Future NHL star Connor McDavid rung up seven goals and 18 points in six games to lead the offensive charge of the team. American-born rookie forward Alex DeBrincat was off to a torrid start with eight goals and 11 points in six games.
The Otters won 52 games last season and were second best in the league. They were bested by Guelph in the Western Conference final. With plenty of firepower up front, a deep and experienced defence corps and solid veteran goaltending, the Otters are primed to be one of the best again in the league.
Niagara
The IceDogs are the early surprise in the league for the wrong reasons. Niagara features depth at all positions, along with star power up front in Carter Verhaeghe, but have yet to put it together.
The team is obviously missing a major component in forward Brendan Perlini, who led the team last season with 34 goals. Perlini is at least four weeks away from returning from an upper body injury. His return is paramount.
