The Sudbury Wolves still can’t find a way to put all the pieces of a 60-minute puzzle together. It cost them again Friday night as they fell 5-3 to the visiting Guelph Storm at Sudbury Community Arena.
For close to 51 minutes, the Wolves skated player-for-player against the Storm, last season’s OHL champions, and even out-played them on most shifts. It was the other nine minutes -- especially the first seven minutes -- that doomed Sudbury. The Storm scored three goals in the first seven minutes and 11 seconds of play, including a tough-to-swallow opening goal just 18 seconds into the game. Despite an eventual valiant effort, the Wolves couldn’t climb out of the early hole they dug themselves.
“We started off slow and that is what killed us,” forward Nathan Pancel said. “We brought it in the second and third periods, but to win a game, you got to play 60 minutes. It is as simple as that. We didn’t do that, so we didn’t get the win. It really sucks.”
The Storm lived up to their name and blew fast and furious into the Wolves to start the game. The Storm blitzed and were rewarded with three quick goals, catching the Wolves by surprise. Tyler Bertuzzi, Jason Dickinson and Chadd Bauman all scored to give Guelph a 3-0 lead before the opening period was half over. It spelled the end of the night for starting Sudbury goalie Sam Tanguay, who made seven saves. Troy Timpano took over in net.
“It was a terrible start,” Sudbury head coach Paul Fixter said.
Sudbury stopped the onslaught when captain Brody Silk answered with a goal at 7:36 to cut into the lead. As time winded down on the period, Guelph struck once more when Dickinson marched in uncontested and scored, making it 4-1.
In the second period, Sudbury came hard and fast. They turned the tides and took the play to Guelph. Just past the mid-way mark, Pancel made a sweet deke to score and cut the lead down to 4-2 at 10:48. Sudbury out-shot Guelph 34-24 through two periods.
Sudbury’s power play came through in the third period to make it a one-goal game. Pancel tallied on the man-advantage situation at 4:11 to make it 4-3. Sudbury poured it on, but couldn’t get the game-tying goal. Guelph’s Pius Suter scored a late goal to snuff out any comeback and make the final 5-3.
“There was fight,” Fixter said about the players. “We challenged them before the game and we certainly challenged them after the first period. To their credit, they responded. We didn’t get the (win). I feel bad for them.”
When the dust settled, Sudbury outshot Guelph 42-34, but where it mattered the most -- the scoreboard -- they couldn’t get the job done.
“I thought we outplayed them for 51 minutes, but in a 60-minute game, it was the nine minutes we didn‘t play well that cost us” Fixter said. “We out-chanced them. We had numerous chances to win the game, tie the game. In the end, we still got some guys who are snake-bitten. We had guys that turned down opportunities to shoot. You have to do that to score. We got guys who are not shooting the puck and I don’t understand why. The easiest way to score is to shoot the puck.”
The players know they wasted a glorious opportunity to earn one or two points off a solid Guelph club. The first nine minutes will haunt their dreams.
“There was no energy,” Timpano said. “You make that 60 minutes and it is a win for us.”
Timpano earned praise from the coaches and players for stepping in and taking over the game when it was 3-0 for Guelph. Timpano made 25 saves on 27 shots, including two point-blank saves in the third period off shots from Guelph star Robby Fabbri from in close.
“He gave us a chance to stay in it … and get a win potentially,” Fixter said.
Guelph is rebuilding their club after losing some major stars to graduation and making plenty of moves last season to win the league championship. Scoring support is the biggest concern as the team attempts to figure out if it will be a buyer or seller this season.
“We have good leadership,” assistant coach Bill Stewart said. “Our leaders have helped us find our way so far this season. We need to find secondary scoring. We have three or four guys who carrying the offensive load every game. We need help from the other guys for more success.”
Sudbury hits the road for a game against the Barrie Colts Saturday. The Wolves return home Sunday for a game against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Game time is 2 p.m.
Game notes
-- The three stars of the game were: Jason Dickinson (first), Brody Silk (second) and Justin Nichols (third).
-- Sudbury scratched Austin Clapham, Jonathon Masters and Brady Pataki.
-- Guelph scratched Chris Marchese, Justin Auger, James McEwan and Aleks Rapp.
-- Sudbury went 1-for-6 on the power play. Guelph went 0-for-6 on the power play.
