Undisciplined IceDogs fall in Sudbury
Kevin He scored his 32nd goal of the season as the Niagara IceDogs dropped a 3-2 decision to the Sudbury Wolves Wednesday. Photo: OHL IMAGES.
The Niagara IceDogs shot themselves in the foot Wednesday in a 3-2 loss to the Sudbury Wolves in Ontario Hockey League action in Sudbury.
The IceDogs took four consecutive minor penalties in the third period and the Wolves took advantage, scoring twice in the final 20 minutes to rally from a 2-1 deficit. “It was a good effort, no question about it,” Niagara head coach Ben Boudreau said. “It was a pretty evenly match game. I just characterize it as an undisciplined third penalty that costs us.
“The No. 1 single thing in the third period was discipline. We took three minors in five minutes in the third period on the road and they ended up making us pay and that was the game.”
Sean Doherty took a penalty for not immediately heading to the bench after he lost his helmet while Kevin He was called for a slashing penalty and Jack Brauti for a slash.
“I think the one that really bothered me was the undisciplined penalty from Jack Brauti. He’s wearing a letter on his sweater and he slashes a stick out of a guy’s hand that has nothing to do with the play and it started us defending, defending, defending and they finally scored on the third minor,” Boudreau said.
He liked how the team defended for the most part.
“I thought we played pretty good defence, I thought our kill was pretty good,” he said. “You know, you give up three on the road and you’re going to give yourself a chance to win the game.”
At the other end of the ice, Boudreau would have liked to see more output.
“We had one goal from Kevin (He) and one goal from (Ryan) Roobroeck and they’re both our leading scorers and I think it’s great. But at the same time, we only scored two goals. A great effort by our team but we need to score more than two.”
Hayden Jeffery, who was making his second straight start after defeating the London Knights Saturday for his first OHL win, turned in another solid effort, kicking out 28 shots.
“If you watch him play a game without knowing anything about him, you wouldn’t think twice,” Boudreau said of Jeffery, who has spent the season with the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. “He looks like he can play in the OHL and I think he gives a lot of players on our team confidence. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Jeffrey.”
The win moves the Wolves to within two points of the IceDogs for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Wolves also own a game in hand.
The IceDogs (28-25-3-4) are in North Bay (23-31-5) Thursday and home to Kingston (35-16-5-3) Sunday.
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