The Sudbury Wolves clinched a 7-6 shootout victory at home on Dec. 12, taking on the Owen Sound Attack on Friday night for their first Teddy Bear Toss Game since 2019.
With the win, the Sudbury Wolves improved their record to 10 wins, 19 losses, and one regulation loss.
Mathew Koprowsky was the starting goaltender for the Owen Sound Attack while the Sudbury Wolves started off with Karsen Chartier between the pipes.
At the 5:49 mark of the game, the Owen Sound attack took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Sudbury Wolves when Tristan Delisle found himself all alone in front of Chartier and scored his 21st goal of the season, assisted by Caden Taylor, putting the Attack in front by a score of 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, the Wolves gave the puck away to Owen Sound’s Nicholas Sykora who scored his 15th goal of the season with a slap shot, giving Owen Sound a 2-0 lead.
At the 9:30 mark of the first, Wolves’ forward Kieron Walton was taken down on a breakaway, leading to a penalty shot, which he capitalized on, cutting Owen Sound’s lead to 2-1. That was also the moment teddy bears began to rain down onto the ice, all of which will be donated to local children in time for Christmas morning, part of the SWSE Teddy Bear Toss.
With 4:34 left in the first, Pierce Mbuyi for Owen Sound fired off a one timer past Chartier for his 16th goal of the season, assisted by Tristan Delisle and Lenny Greenberg, making the score 3-1 for Owen Sound.
With 3:30 remaining in the period, Gavin Ewles scored his third goal of the season from the point, assisted by Kieron Walton and Alex Pharand, closing Sudbury’s gap to 3-2.
At the 17:44 mark of the opening period, former Sudbury Wolf Caden Taylor received a pass from a teammate and put a wrist shot behind Chartier, giving Owen Sound a 4-2 lead after a wild and eventful first period.
After the fourth Owen Sound goal, Wolves Head Coach Scott Barney pulled Karsen Chartier from the goal in favour of Bjorn Bronas.
The Wolves received a too-many-men penalty at the 6:16 mark of the second period, which lead to Braedyn Rogers scoring a power play goal, his fifth goal of the season, firing a slap shot past Bronas, assisted by John Banks and Jake Crawford, making the score 5-2 for the Owen Sound Attack.
Alex Pharand for Sudbury was in the penalty box for tripping, when Wesley Royston scored on the power play for his seventh goal of the season, assisted by John Banks and Caden Taylor, putting Owen Sound firmly in control with a 6-2 lead.
On that same penalty for Sudbury, Rowan Henderson for the Wolves scored a Short Handed goal, his seventh of the season, after receiving a cross ice pass from Ethan Dean, making the score 6-3 for the Attack.
At the 12:12 mark of the middle frame, Tristan Delisle for Owen Sound was serving a minor penalty for roughing, leading to Daniel Berehowsky scoring a power play goal, his fifth goal of the season, completing a nice passing play for Sudbury, assisted by Kieron Walton and Nathan Villeneuve, making the score 6-4 for Owen Sound.
With 6:02 left in the second, Artem Gonchar for Sudbury scored his eighth goal of the season, a point shot, assisted by Hudson Martin and Patrik Ula, closing Owen Sound’s lead to 6-5. Ula’s assist on the goal was his first career Ontario Hockey League point.
Exactly one minute later, the Sudbury Wolves tied the game with him skating all alone in front of the net and putting the puck past Koprowski for his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Kieron Walton and Jan Chovan, tying the game 6-6 with one period left to play in regulation time.
Neither the third period or overtime would produce a winner, forcing the game into a shootout.
Daniel Berehowsky and Nathan Villeneuve were the goal scorers for the Wolves in the shootout, giving the Sudbury Wolves the shootout victory over the Owen Sound Attack in a wild game by a score of 7-6.
The Sudbury Wolves have Saturday off before playing against the Brampton Steelheads at the Sudbury Community Arena on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec.14 with puck drop scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].