Wolves wrap up home stand with second straight loss

Another slow start hurt the Sudbury Wolves as the pack lost Sunday afternoon to the Sarnia Sting 5-2.

In four games this season the Wolves have been outscored 9-1 in the first period, something that Head Coach David Matsos said needs to change as he chalked it up to a lackluster effort.

“Today it was unfortunate because some nights there’s games where one or two players are having tough nights and you can live with that because they’re kids and they’re human,” he said. “What happened today with the whole team, seemed really like an uninspired game of hockey since the drop of the puck. I didn’t really enjoy watching it, it was one of those things where you just keep trying and pushing and pushing it to see if they can pull themselves out and they just couldn’t.

“It’s hard to chase a game, especially as disjointed as we were in the first period. They’re definitely not going post and in right now for us. We generated enough scoring chances between (Jacob) Harris and (Michael) Pezzetta and those guys. I think we generated plenty of scoring chances to win a game, but defensively we weren’t near good enough to compete.”

It was a slow start for both teams but almost midway through the first frame it was a northern kid who opened the scoring.

Troy Lajeunesse, who is from Dokis First Nation, which is in between the French River and Lake Nipissing netted his second goal of the season.

Sarnia then added a second goal three minutes later, off the stick of Alex Renaud.

The Sting and second year centre Lajeunesse were not done there, as bad giveaway behind the net by the Wolves allowed Lajeunesse to walk out and beat the unsuspecting Troy Timpano.

For the third time in four games the Wolves trailed after one period.

Assistant captain Kyle Capobianco thought mind set is a big part of why the team has started slow.

“We just need to come out more mentally prepared,” he said. “It starts with our warm-up we need to be dialed-in and take more pride in being ready before the game. It just comes down to acting like a pro and taking things serious, it starts with Monday being serious at practice and it will carry on through the week.”

Much like in Friday’s loss to Kitchener, the Wolves had a dominant second period.

David Levin scored his third of the season with assists coming to Pavel Jenys and Patrick Murphy.

The first overall pick in this year's OHL draft has not looked out of place in four games, which has impressed his coach, and led to some heavy minutes.

“He’s showing right now that he’s ready to play lots of minutes in this league and he’s consistent. You talk about the great players, when they have off nights, they’re still bringing something to be recognized and he already is one of those guys for me at such a young age,” said Matsos.

After the Sting got one back, Wolves forward Matt Schmalz carried the puck down the left wing, around the net, and centred the puck to captain Danny Desrochers who buried his first of the season.

The Wolves continued the push into the third period with a few more chances by Desrochers and Michael Pezzetta, but the pack just couldn’t find the net to pull closer.

With just over two minutes to play it was Lajeunesse completing the hat-trick with his family and friends scattering the ice with gold hats.

“It’s a special moment for me, my whole family’s here, they’re all from up north and it’s just special to get it. All I can say is thanks to everyone for coming, they’ve been supporting me all the way and it’s helped me come to where I am now,” said Lajeunesse.

This is the only time the Wolves will see the Sting this season in Sudbury, but the two teams will meet soon enough, next weekend during a three-game Thanksgiving road swing.

The players are looking forward to the first road trip of the season.

“It’s different playing on the road, I think it brings the character out of some players and some players drive on playing away games and it will help bring the best out of some players,” said Capobianco.

Matsos agrees this could be good for the team but very little will change in the game plan.

“Nothing changes as far as preparation, we’ll cut the video from the weekend and show the teaching clips and then start moving forward towards London. We have three tough games on the road, and we just have to be up for it, we need a good road trip.”

“That’s the way I was thinking about it, our first real team bonding on the road because we haven’t had any overnights in the preseason and regular season so it might be a good thing for us to get away and spend some time together,” said Matsos.

Following the game Capobianco, who was taken in the third round of the 2015 NHL entry draft by the Arizona Coyotes, had a chance to speak with Steve Sullivan, a development coach for the Glendale Desert Dogs and NHL vet of over 1,000 games.

“It was awesome, I try to take everything I can from what he says, I try to be a sponge around him,” Capobianco said. “Obviously a very successful pro career and it’s really nice picking his brain and seeing what he thinks of my game.”

The Wolves will head on the road to play the London Knights Friday, Sarnia Sunday and Kitchener Monday.

The three teams have a combined record of 6-2-2-1 as of Sunday afternoon.

Sudbury is 1-3 after four games, the same mark as last season, and won’t play at home again until Oct. 16, against North Bay.