The Sudbury Wolves surely must be looking forward to being back in the East.

Not only did the local juniors post an 0-4 record in their most recent stretch opposite Western Conference opponents, but a goal differential of -18 (7GF - 25GA) easily marked a season-worst four game bracket this year.

Thankfully, a 5-2 loss at the hands of the London Knights Friday night at home, an encounter in which the Wolves did not necessarily play a bad game at all, will now be followed by five straight matchups with Eastern Conference adversaries.

After being pummeled 8-1 by the Knights in London last weekend, closing off a three game road trip to forget, the Pack produced a more disciplined and defensively sound effort in the rematch at home, playing to a scoreless opening frame against a Knights team that leads the entire OHL in points.

Things opened up in the second but the Wolves were prepared to go blow for blow, an ice-breaker from Evan Van Gorp (London) countered by a nifty deflection from Chase Coughlan, a go-ahead tally from Van Gorp offset by a snipe from San Jose first rounder Quentin Musty.

In fact, it was essentially a 50 second stretch late in the middle stanza that decided matters on this night as a pair of defensive zone breakdowns by the Wolves allowed plenty of room for the likes of Kasper Halttunen (silver medal winner at recent World Juniors with Team Finland) and high-scoring defenceman Sam Dickinson to give London a lead they would never relinquish.

A shutdown effort in the third by the Knights would see only one goal added to the mix as Landon Sim buried the puck into the back of an empty net at the 18:13 mark, leaving the final scoreboard reading 5-2 London.

Nate Krawchuk finished with 34 saves tending the twice for the Wolves, producing a very solid effort as he and his teammates now prepare for a home and home set with the North Bay Battalion that commences Sunday afternoon (January 26th) and wraps up next Friday in Sudbury.

The Wolves follow that up with a two game set against the Brantford Bulldogs (Feb 2nd in Sudbury; Feb 5th in Brantford) before travelling to face the Niagara Ice Dogs on Friday, February 7th.

Their one remaining multi-game set against the West comes on Family Day weekend (February 14th to 17th) as the Wolves hit the road to meet up with the Flint Firebirds, Saginaw Spirit and Guelph Storm, closing off the 2024-2025 campaign by eight of their final 12 games at home.