While it wasn’t their best game, snapping an eight-game losing skid with a comeback win is crucial for the confidence of the Soo Greyhounds heading into the final 18 games of the Ontario Hockey League regular season.
They erased a two-goal deficit by scoring on both ends of a 5-on-3 power play in the second period and got a goal late in regulation time that helped them to a 4-3 shootout win over the Saginaw Spirit Friday night at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.
The win comes 24 hours after a solid effort in an overtime loss to Windsor on Thursday and for the Greyhounds, getting a positive result Friday was crucial in a couple of ways for the team.
“One is just for our confidence and a boost in our swagger,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said.
The other?
“We put ourselves in a position where we’re back in the fight,” Dean added.
Overage forward Mark Duarte said the win was “definitely a confidence booster.”
That said, Dean also said that Friday’s victory doesn’t take any of the pressure off.
“There’s no pressure off right now,” Dean said. “We have to treat every game like it’s game seven and give ourselves an opportunity to hunt down this playoff spot.”
Dean said there was some fatigue in the Greyhounds on Friday night, but added that the leadership group was critical in helping the team get through it.
“We come in as a little bit of a tired group against a team that’s waiting for us here and five-on-five, we clearly struggled,” Dean said. “They really carried most of the play. Our leadership, they really stepped up and showed a resilient attitude.”
“We were resilient,” added veteran forward Jordan D’Intino.
D’Intino added that the win provided the team with a bit of relief as it ended the losing skid.
“This was a big game for us, and we know we needed it,” D’Intino said.
After falling behind by a pair in the second period, Dean talked about the Greyhounds power play stepping up after struggling at times earlier in the game by scoring on both penalties in a 5-on-3 situation late in the middle frame.
“They came through when it counted,” Dean said. “A lot of that has to do with the leadership of Mark Duarte. He was an absolute monster tonight. When guys might not have been showing their best selves, he was trying to drag it out of them with his style of play.”
Dean added that “there’s no doubt that the power play changed the course of the game in the second period.”
After a scoreless opening period, Saginaw opened the scoring by capitalizing on a Greyhounds turnover.
After the Greyhounds coughed up the puck near their own blueline, Matyas Sapovaliv capped off a three-way passing play by scoring from near the bottom of the right faceoff circle off a pass from Theo Hill at 11:49.
The Spirit took a 2-0 lead four minutes later when Calem Mangone went to the net and redirected a pass from Hunter Haight in the left faceoff circle past Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel.
Just 1:12 later, the Greyhounds got on the board when Kalvyn Watson took a pass in the left faceoff circle from Duarte and beat Saginaw goaltender Tristan Lennox short side with the Greyhounds on a two-man advantage.
The Greyhounds proceeded to tie the game 1:02 later, also on the power play, when Bryce McConnell-Barker hit Marco Mignosa with a pass near the Saginaw blueline, went to the net, and redirected the return pass from Mignosa past Lennox.
Saginaw took a 3-2 lead in the third period when Haight grabbed a turnover by Greyhounds defenceman Ryan Thompson and skated into the slot where he beat Schenkel stick side at 9:42.
The Greyhounds tied the game with 1:33 to go in regulation time when D’Intino scored on a loose puck in the slot after McConnell-Barker had his shot from the left faceoff circle blocked by Spirit defenceman Roberto Mancini.
With 32.3 seconds to go in regulation, Duarte was stopped by Lennox on a penalty shot after the former was held up trying to get around Spirit defenceman Zayne Parekh.
After overtime solved nothing, it was a goal in the shootout by Duarte that gave the Greyhounds the win.
McConnell-Barker opened the shootout by beating Lennox with a deke stick side.
Haight, Watson, and Parekh proceeded to miss, which set the stage for Duarte to seal the game.
Duarte beat Lennox with a shot stick side to give the Greyhounds the win.
In addition to stopping both Saginaw shooters in the shootout, Schenkel made 30 saves for the Greyhounds leading up to the shootout.
“He was a wall tonight,” Dean said of Schenkel. “He was just so calm. We were clearly panicking at five-on-five and Charlie settled us down.”
At the other end, Lennox made 17 saves.
Haight had a goal and an assist for the Spirit in regulation time.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon at home when they host the Sarnia Sting in a 2:07 p.m. puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The game opens a four-game homestand for the Greyhounds.
With the win, the Greyhounds record stands at 15-22-8-5 on the season.
The extra point for the shootout win took on added importance for the Greyhounds on Friday as the Kitchener Rangers also picked up a win.
Just hours after announcing the firing of coach Adam Dennis, the Rangers skated to an 8-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Kitchener.
The Greyhounds trail the Rangers by three points for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference after Friday’s results though the Rangers have a pair of games in hand.
The Greyhounds and Rangers have two more regular season meetings on the schedule, including Feb. 17 in the Sault before they wrap up their season series on Feb. 26 in Kitchener.
The Spirit fall to 26-20-2-1 with the loss and are two points behind the Owen Sound Attack for fourth in the Western Conference. The Spirit also remain within striking distance of third with just three points separating them from the Sarnia Sting after Friday’s action.