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Robinson's pair leads Wolves past Hounds

Sudbury 4, Soo 2

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He may be a late bloomer by OHL standards, but Sudbury Wolves winger Owen Robinson is making up for lost time.

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Robinson, whose speed and hard north-south style have earned him top-six minutes, showed once more on Wednesday why the Wolves were willing to draft and sign him as an 18-year-old last year.

Robinson scored this fifth and sixth goals of the season, the latter of which was the game-winner, as the Wolves recorded their sixth straight win, and first over the Soo Greyhounds this season, 4-2 at GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie.

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“We finally got back at the Soo,” said Robinson, whose team had dropped its first three contests against the Hounds. “They kind of had our number all year, but I think it’s turning our way now and to get those two goals was pretty nice.”

Macauley Carson and Adam Ruzicka also scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 34 saves for Sudbury, which improved to 31-16-2-1 on the season despite being outshot 36-26.

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Jordan Sambrook and Jaromir Pytlik scored and Matthew Villalta made 22 stops for the Soo, which slipped to 33-12-5-1.

“We played to our structure a bit more, didn’t really get sucked into their play,” Robinson said. “We practised a lot this week at changing up our forecheck and I think we executed really well.”

It’s wasn’t a quick start for the Wolves in terms of scoring chances, as the Hounds enjoyed back-to-back power plays and the first seven shots of the game, en route to a 14-9 advantage over 20 minutes.

Successful kills, highlighted by a couple of big saves by Luukkonen, helped get the Wolves rolling. Villalta had to be sharp on back-to-back chances by Sudbury’s Nolan Hutcheson, as well as one by Robinson. The Soo goalie had less success on a later clearing attempt, however, fanning on the play and allowing Carson to pounce on the puck and bury his 10th of the season at 7:58.

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Ruzicka made good on another turnover, making a steal in the Greyhounds zone and fooling Villalta by feigning a pass before firing a shot between his pads at 9:18. The goal was Ruzicka’s 20th of the season and ninth since joining the Wolves last month.

The hosts got on the board when the Wolves failed to clear the zone and Sambrook zipped in from the point to beat Luukkonen at 17:07. The Wolves had a good case that the play should have been blown dead as Frost tripped Carson to the ice just seconds earlier, but there was no call.

Robinson restored his team’s two-goal lead just 1:40 into the second, burying the rebound on a shot by Shane Bulitka. Bulitka and Ruzicka did excellent work on the forecheck to keep pressure on the Hounds leading to the goal.

“Earlier in the year, I was getting chances and I was a little bit snake-bit, but I have kept with it,” Robinson said. “I have been working a lot in practice with the coaches on finishing my chances and I think it’s nice that they’re going in now. I hope to keep it going.”

Robinson made it two straight tallies, and six on the season, with a highlight-reel marker at 10:37. The first-year OHLer put on a burst of speed and spun off a defender before snapping a shot past Villalta.

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Robinson, who stepped in beside Ruzicka and Bulitka when David Levin was suspended, then injured, has quickly found chemistry with his linemates.

“They’re both good players and obviously, they had a lot of chemistry with Levin, too,” Robinson said. “I’m just trying to do my best to fill that role.

“We’re good down low. Bulitka’s a smart player and Rosy has size and he’s a good passer, so I just try to get open for them.”

Pytlik answered quickly, however, sneaking into the Sudbury slot, taking a well-aimed pass from Keeghan Howdeshell and beating Luukkonen with a quick wrister at 11:16.

Shots after 40 minutes were 23-22 in the Soo’s favour.

There was no scoring in the third, though the Hounds tried to pour it on and outshot the visitors 13-4, but the Wolves did well to keep many shots outside and Luukkonen dealt well with those from close range.

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Drake Pilon’s holding minor at 14:33 gave the home side an excellent chance to narrow the gap, but the Hounds were held off by the league’s third-ranked penalty kill.

The victory kept the Wolves two points ahead of Oshawa for third in the Eastern Conference, with 18 games left on the regular-season schedule and a game in hand. The Wolves are six points back of Niagara for second spot.

“It’s huge,” Robinson added. “We have a couple of teams at our backs right now and we want to keep separating to keep home-ice advantage. I think we can catch Niagara and that’s our goal, to keep climbing. If we keep playing hard like this, we can do it.”

The Wolves return home Friday to take on the Flint Firebirds at 7:05 p.m.

bleeson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @ben_leeson

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