Hounds bitten by the Wolves

A struggling Soo Greyhounds power play came to the forefront on Wednesday night at Memorial Gardens.

A problem that has plagued the Greyhounds for much of the season, hurt the team on Wednesday night as they surrendered a pair of shorthanded goals in a 5-2 loss to the Sudbury Wolves.

The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead in the opening period while outshooting the Wolves 14-9 in the frame.

A Jonathan D'Aversa power play goal at 1:01 gave the Wolves an early lead but the Greyhounds battled back and scored a pair of goals just under four minutes apart to take a slim 2-1 lead. Tyler Kennedy and David Kuchejda picked up the Hounds goals.

Despite directing another 14 shots at Sudbury goaltender Kevin Beech, the Greyhounds came out of the second period in a tight situation as Nick Foligno potted a shorthanded goal at 7:53 to tie the game.

In the third period, Kevin Baker of the Wolves put the Greyhounds in a bad spot when he converted a scoring chance into another shorthanded goal just 38 seconds into the period. A power play goal by Akim Aliu at 9:19, followed by an unassisted marker by Foligno at 17:11 sealed the victory for the Wolves, an important one as they battle for home ice in the Eastern Conference.

"I think we're all disappointed in our effort," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg, "and our passion. I think it shows up in a lot of different areas. We've got to regroup very quickly because we've got two very good teams coming in here on the weekend."

One area that has been a concern for an extender period for the team has been their inability to capitalize on power play chances.

"We look very nervous on it now and we've got to get it down to making good, smart plays," said Hartsburg. "We've got some young defencemen on it and they look rattled and we need to settle them down. We've got to be a little more poised and make good passes and get the puck to the net."

The Wolves played the game without five regulars and only dressed 16 skaters, mainly due to injuries. Among the injured was Sault native Matt Dias, who was out of the lineup due to a separated shoulder.

The loss leaves the Greyhounds six points ahead of the Erie Otters for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, although the Otters now have three games in hand. The Greyhounds also remain five points back of seventh-place Saginaw, and six points back of sixth-place Windsor.

Next up for the Greyhounds is another pair of tough home games as the locals host the Brampton Battalion on Friday night and the defending-Memorial Cup champion London Knights on Saturday. Game time on both nights is 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

*** AROUND THE OHL:

In the lone other Ontario Hockey League game on Wednesday night, Ryan Callahan scored three goals, including two in the third period, to lead the Guelph Storm to a 6-4 win over the Oshawa Generals. Kelsey Wilson and Mike McLean had a pair of assists each for the Storm. Rookie phenom John Tavares scored three goals for the Generals while Oshawa goaltender Carlo DiRienzo stopped 40 shots.