Greyhounds stay alive, blank Spirit to force winner-take-all game

It’s the lone second round series still going in the Ontario Hockey League, and it’s come down to a winner-take-all game on Tuesday night.

The Soo Greyhounds entered play Sunday night on the heels of an overtime loss in game five Friday night against the Saginaw Spirit that put them in a must-win situation at home Sunday and they did just that, scoring four times in the second period en route to a 5-0 win at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

The win ties their best-of-7 series at three wins apiece and means a seventh game Tuesday night in Saginaw with the winner advancing to the Western Conference final to face the London Knights.

With the game still scoreless, the Greyhounds took the lead in the final seconds of the opening period before blowing the game open with four goals in the middle frame to pick up the victory.

Greyhounds coach John Dean called the goal, scored by overage forward Jacob Frasca, “by far the most important goal of the series.”

Dean credited assistant coach Tyler Ertel for telling him to have Frasca on the ice for the goal, which came moments after a faceoff deep in Saginaw territory.

“It’s deflating,” said Spirit coach Chris Lazary.

“We had to make a better decision in that moment with the puck to give us some time,” Lazary added. “We had the net to use as an advantage. Kind of a bad break. They had a lot of breaks go their way tonight. We had a few that, if breaks go a different way, maybe it’s a different story.”

Greyhounds forward Gavin Hayes said the goal was a boost for the Greyhounds heading into the dressing room.

“We were all fired up,” Hayes said.

Hayes added that the run in the second period was a byproduct of the late goal and hard work throughout the period as well.

“We just worked hard,” Hayes said of the period. “We had a couple power plays, which comes from hard work (too).”

Dean called Sunday’s win a result of character.

“We believe that over seven games, if we work, we compete, and continue to wear that team down, we’ll find success,” Dean said. “Today was a result of that. I wish everyone could experience the love in that room. That’s what I saw on the ice tonight, a care factor that goes way past any X’s and O’s or plays drawn up. That’s just a group that’s going to bat for each other.”

Dean agreed it’s something that can make the difference in a series.

“When you’re as talented as we are, to have that kind of grit, tenacity, character, that goes a long way,” Dean said.

For the Spirit, Lazary said his team struggled to find a way to end the series.

“We looked a little nervous in the moment trying to close a team out,” Lazary said.

Both teams are now looking ahead to Tuesday’s contest in Saginaw with the Spirit looking for a better effort while the Greyhounds are looking to carry Sunday’s effort over into the final game of the series.

“We have to play faster; we have to play harder,” Lazary said. “We have to find a way to get the inside a little bit more. We have to be a little bit desperate. The one thing the Sault had the advantage of is they were desperate. They literally had to win to stay alive. I don’t think we had that same desperation.”

Asked about game seven, Dean said “this means nothing unless we take care of game seven.”

“The positive we take out of this game is, we now have played a game where, if you lose it, you’re out,” Dean added. “We played for our lives and now we have to do it again. We’re battle-tested for 60 and now let’s do it for another 60.”

Dean added that the key to game seven for the Greyhounds is to “play for the guy beside you.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring as Frasca got the puck in the left faceoff circle and beat Saginaw goaltender Nolan Lalonde glove side with 5.2 seconds to go in the period.

The Sault grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second period as Jack Beck skated into the slot and took a pass from Christopher Brown before cutting across the slot and beating Lalonde 5-hole at 4:02.

Hayes made it a 3-0 game on the power play as he went to the net and redirected a pass from Beck on the left wing past Lalonde at 6:02.

Hayes then picked up his second of the night at 16:04 as he took a pass in tight from Bryce McConnell-Barker and slid the puck past Lalonde on the power play to make it a 4-0 game.

The home side took a 5-0 lead at 19:41 as Marco Mignosa slipped past a pair of Saginaw defenders near the Spirit blueline and proceeded to beat Lalonde high stick side with a backhand.

In addition to the two-goal night for Hayes, Beck had three points in the victory with a goal and a pair of assists in the win.

Frasca had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds.

McConnell-Barker assisted on a pair of goals.

Goaltender Charlie Schenkel made 24 saves for the Sault while Lalonde stopped 29 shots at the other end for the Spirit.

On the injury front for the Spirit, goaltender Andrew Oke remains out of the lineup after being injured in game two while defenceman Zayne Parekh left Sunday’s game in the second period after an altercation with Mignosa.

Parekh was helped from the ice by a trainer and a teammate and did not return to the game.

Asked about the injury, Lazary said he had no comment following the game.

The Spirit also lost veteran defenceman James Guo in the third period after the blueliner was given a major penalty for slashing with just over five minutes to go in the game.