They felt like they deserved a better fate on Friday night and the Soo Greyhounds used a big offensive night from their elite players to rebound on Saturday night
Morgan Frost and Barrett Hayton combined for seven points as the Greyhounds picked up a 7-4 Ontario Hockey League win over the Owen Sound Attack on Saturday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.
The win came on the heels of an overtime loss in Guelph on Friday that saw the team surrender a 4-1 lead in the contest.
“It’s not that we had a bad effort last night, but we didn’t get the result we wanted, and this is not an easy building to come into a play (in Owen Sound),” said Greyhounds Associate Coach Jordan Smith. “The boys responded, rose to the occasion and got the job done.”
Smith added that he felt Friday’s loss was a motivating factor Saturday.
“We just carried the play from last night,” Smith said. “When you don’t get the result you want to, it’s nice to turn around and play right away.”
Greyhounds Coach John Dean returned to the bench Saturday after missing Friday’s game due to a family situation though he left immediately following the game and Smith spoke with the media.
With five assists in the game, Frost moved into a three-way tie for the OHL scoring lead with 46 points.
“I like to think that (distributing the puck) is one of my better assets and sometimes I try to be like a quarterback out there,” Frost said.
Frost sits tied with North Bay’s Justin Brazeau and Owen Sound’s Kevin Hancock. Hancock had a goal and an assist Saturday night for the Attack.
Hayton had a pair of goals while overage defenceman Mac Hollowell assisted on three goals.
Keeghan Howdeshell, Cole MacKay and Rory Kerins had a goal and an assist each.
Zack Trott and Joe Carroll also scored for the Greyhounds.
“You can’t rely on the big boys every night,” Smith said. “It was nice to see guys like Zack Trott, Joe Carroll and Rory Kerins find the scoresheet. It’s that kind of secondary scoring that’s going to help up find success. It’s nice to see those guys get rewarded. They’ve been working hard.”
For Carroll, his goal was his first in nearly a month and was the eventual game-winner. The sophomore forward called it a “huge” goal personally.
“I’ve been a bit snake-bitten,” Carroll said. “I just need to bear down a bit more around the net.”
Matthew Villalta, who returned to the lineup on Friday night for the Greyhounds, stopped 32 shots.
Nick Suzuki had a pair of goals for the Attack while Brady Lyle also scored.
Andrew MacLean got the start for the Attack but was pulled after the Greyhounds sixth goal. The rookie made 23 saves.
Mack Guzda, who started for Owen Sound in their 7-2 loss in London on Friday night, entered the game but didn’t face a shot.
The Greyhounds return home with a 15-6-4-1 record.
Owen Sound falls to 13-9-1-2.
The Greyhounds will return to action with a three-game road trip next weekend that begins on Thursday night in Windsor against the Spitfires.
The team then travels to Saginaw next Saturday to face the Spirit before wrapping up the weekend Sunday afternoon in Flint against the Firebirds.
In other action around the OHL on Saturday night, in Ottawa, Sasha Chmelevski had a goal and three assists as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Sarnia Sting 8-4. Austen Keating chipped in with two goals and an assist while Sam Bitten also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. Kody Clark added a pair of goals for Ottawa.
In Hamilton, MacKenzie Entwistle scored twice as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Niagara IceDogs 5-2. Brandon Saigeon and Matthew Strome had a goal and two assists each for Hamilton.
In Sudbury, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 39 shots as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Mississauga Steelheads 3-2. Darian Pilon scored twice for Sudbury. Owen Tippett had both goals for Mississauga.
In Erie, Hunter Jones made 38 saves as the Peterborough Petes blanked the Erie Otters 4-0. Declan Chisolm had a goal and two assists for Peterborough. Liam Kirk scored a pair of goals for the Petes.
In Windsor, the Windsor Spitfires scored three unanswered goals to break a 3-3 tie and beat the Flint Firebirds 6-3. Connor Corcoran, Luke Kutkevicius, and Mathew MacDougall had a goal and an assist each for Windsor. Eric Uba scored twice and assisted on the other Flint goal.
In Barrie, a six-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Barrie Colts to an 8-2 win over the Guelph Storm. Ben Hawerchuk scored three times for the Colts while Lucas Chiodo had a goal and three assists. Jacob Tortora had a goal and two assists for Barrie.