After a 2 – 1 loss on Thursday, December 30th in Saginaw against the Spirit, the first place (16-10-2) Soo Greyhounds were back in action to open up 2022 with one of two games and fourth of ten meetings in Sudbury to face the fourth place (8-14-2) central division Wolves with game one on Sunday, January 2nd. The Greyhounds defeated the Wolves in Sault Ste Marie on December 29th with a 5 – 4 overtime win.
Only 23 seconds into Sunday afternoon’s matinee, Kalvyn Watson picks up a rebound to the right of Sudbury goaltender Jonathan Lemaire’s net to find the five hole to give the Greyhounds a 1 – 0 lead. Rory Kerins and Robert Calisti had the helpers on Watson’s third of the season. 23 seconds after the Soo’s opening goal, Justin Clothier picks up Tanner Dickinson rebound to slide a loose puck under Lemaire’s right pad for his fourth of the season to bring the lead to 2 – 0. Shorthanded and with a backhand pass along the right boards from Ryan Smith, Nick DeGrazia catches the pass to split the Soo’s defense to slide the Wolves first under Greyhound netminder Tucker Tynan’s right pad with his fourth of the season after a Sudbury breakaway at 11:14 of the first to pull the host within one. From the left faceoff circle at 17:59 of the period, Kocha Delic fires his eighth of the season through Tynan’s five hole to even the game 2 – 2 for the Wolves. David Goyette and Evan Konyen drew the assists on Delic’s tying goal.
53 second past the halfway mark of the middle stanza, Rory Kerins fires the go-ahead goal along the ice from the left faceoff circle to find the back of Lemaire’s net under the Sudbury goaltender’s catcher to give the Soo a 3 – 2 lead. Dickinson and Luc Brzustowski had the contributors on Kerins’ 17th on the season. At 14:34 of the third, Kerins rifles his second of the game from the top of the left faceoff circle into the bottom right corner of Lemaire’s net to give the Soo a 4 – 2 win over the Wolves. Tye Kartye and Calisti notched the helpers on Kerins’ insurance goal. Jonathan Lemaire stopped 47 of 51 shots in the loss while Tucker Tynan turned away 25 of 28 shots in the Chicago, Illinois’ natives eighth win of the 2021 – 2022 season.
After a win over the Wolves, the Greyhounds will stay in Sudbury to hit the ice for a 7:05 p.m start on Tuesday, January 4th.
Photo Bob Davies/Photo Gallery Gerry Liscumb
