Skip to content

Wolves strong effort not enough, losing streak reaches 12

It was possibly the most complete effort in a long time for the Sudbury Wolves but a strong performance from Flint goalie Alex Nedeljkovic led to a 2-0 loss for the Pack.
1(2)
A strong effort could not keep the Sudbury Wolves' losing streak from sliding to 12 straight games as they were downed 2-0 by the Flint Firebirds on Saturday night. Photo: Matt Durnan.
It was possibly the most complete effort in a long time for the Sudbury Wolves but a strong performance from Flint goalie Alex Nedeljkovic led to a 2-0 loss for the Pack.

“I feel very bad for these guys, you got to try and stay positive after performances like that, that’s just what we’re doing. Guys are coming in there really really upset and frustrated, what more can you ask. You can’t ask for anything more other than maybe one off a shin pad and in,” said Wolves Head Coach David Matsos.

It was just the second time all season the Wolves had generated more than 40 shots, as Sudbury outshot Flint 43-20.

“We outshot them by a ton and the bounces didn’t go our way unfortunately, Nedeljkovic played well and I guess we just got to keep doing that over the next couple games and hopefully the bounces will come our way,” said Wolves defenceman Zach Wilkie.

The shots came from all angles of the ice and there were plenty of quality scoring chances for the Wolves, and the team left with a sense of optimism.

“I think the boys played really good tonight, we did what we wanted to, we laid the body and I think we did everything right to win just bounces didn’t go our way,” said Wolves forward Michael Pezzetta.

On the other side a 20 shot against performance and one goal against for Zack Bowman, the second was an empty net goal, was one that Matsos was very happy with.

“I thought our D played a pretty clean game, I thought we were super aggressive on the forecheck which is something we’ve been preaching the chain. As a result we had some really good puck possession and chances.”

“I thought our d-zone coverages were strong, very few breakdowns and in junior hockey that’s hard to do,” said Matsos.

It’s tough in a 12 game losing streak to be positive but in a back-to-back weekend it was back-to-back strong performances and signs that this team is turning a corner.

“The effort was there and I’m excited to be playing Wednesday with the same effort. Eventually when you’re playing like that and stringing periods together like we are, something’s got to go right.”

“I think we’re playing a very good brand of hockey. I think we’re playing hard, I think we’re a very physical team. I think we’re starting to be a team that has prided ourselves in giving up less shots against, we’re seeing more of that,” said Matsos.

It’s up to the leadership group that now includes Michael Pezzetta, as the Wolves first round pick from a season ago was named assistant captain for the rest of the season after the trade of Jacob Harris.

“It’s just being positive in the room, just making sure no one is down on themselves. A loss like tonight there’s nothing we can do really, like we gave it our all out there so just staying positive in the room make sure everybody is doing the right things, keeping their bodies healthy and looking forward to winning the next game and not worrying about whats happened,” said Pezzetta.

The first goal for Flint came on the power play off a very nice passing play that found the stick off Connor Chatham in front who slid in his sixth of the season with 10 minutes to play in the first.

The next goal didn’t come until under minute left in the third period.

The Wolves again had their chances, many of the 40 shots were close rebounds or blistering point shots.

Mikkel Aagaard had a great chance in some four on four hockey with five remaining in the second period, but he was turned aside by Nedeljkovic.

Late in the second period with the Wolves on the power play it was three consecutive booming point shots that just missed the net on all three occasions.

In the third period one of the better chances came when Nedeljkovic came out of his net to play the puck.

With Alan Lyszczarczyk crashing down the puck bounced out front to Dmitry Sokolov who slapped one right one but Nedeljkovic recovered in time.

With around six minutes left in the game Kyle Capobianco fired a point shot that was stopped and Danny Desrochers had two good whacks at the rebound but couldn’t beat the right pad of Nedeljkovic.

Sudbury falls to 5-18-3-0 on the year while Flint goes to 12-10-1-1.

The Wolves will head to Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday, a place that gave them their last win a 4-3 game back on Oct. 28.

The newcomers Aagaard and Wilkie have made an impact, but it will be up the pack as a whole to stop the slide and turn it around.

“Coming from a new team too seeing these guys in the past, its defiantly a new team and we’re doing all the right things right now just not going our way yet. I think this season is going to end up turning around very soon if we keep doing the right things,” said Wilkie.

Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.