With a pair of wins on opening weekend in tow, the Soo Greyhounds confidence got an added boost on Wednesday night.
Facing the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, the Greyhounds came back from one-goal deficits on a pair of occasions, including in the third period to eventually force overtime, en route to a 3-2 shootout win over the London Knights at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
It was a game that the Greyhounds feel showed something about them to the rest of the Ontario Hockey League.
“We were already confident, but being able to beat what we think is a very, very good hockey team over there, and obviously so does the national rankings, for us to do that in a one-goal game and come back says a lot about our character,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean.
“I think a lot of people have been sleeping on the Sault,” said overage forward Jack Beck, who potted the shootout winner.
“The resilience in the room and the hard work, this team never gives up,” Beck added.
What stood out most for the veteran forward in the win?
“We just stuck with it,” Beck said. “They’re obviously an unbelievable team over there. They’re super skilled.”
It wasn’t a perfect game for the Greyhounds, who trailed on a pair of occasions in the win and struggled in the opening half of the third period, but it was a game where there was a lot to like as well.
“I loved our first, liked our second, minus special teams. We lost the special teams battle and found a way to win a game, which is a positive,” Dean said.
“In the third period, I did not like our first ten (minutes) at all,” Dean also said. “We were very flat. We looked a little defeated.”
Dean added that a goal by rookie Travis Hayes helped the team “find its legs again” in the third period.
London coach Dale Hunter, disappointed with the result, credited his team, as well as the Greyhounds, following the contest.
“Both teams played hard,” Hunter said. “It went to a shootout, so it was pretty even.”
Hunter added that, despite a game in which the Knights played well, “you always want to see improvements.”
The Knights played the game minus three veteran forwards in Easton Cowan (NHL), Brody Crane (illness), and Landon Sim (injury), Hunter called in an opportunity for some other players.
“It’s good to see what the young kids can do,” Hunter said.
London opened the scoring with 6:30 to go in the opening period when Ruslan Gazizov grabbed a loose puck in the right corner and fed Max McCue in the faceoff circle. McCue proceeded to beat Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel glove side to give the Knights the lead.
The Greyhounds tied the game at one in the second period when defenceman Andrew Gibson beat London starter Owen Willmore with a shot from the right point through traffic at 8:36.
London took a 2-1 lead into the dressing room as a shot from the high slot by Sam Dickinson was deflected in close by Sam O’Reilly past Charlie Schenkel at 14:23 of the second period.
The Greyhounds got the game back on even terms again in the third period when Travis Hayes found himself in the lower part of the left faceoff circle and one-timed a cross-ice pass from Christopher Brown past Willmore at 10:23.
After a plethora of chances by both teams in overtime, the game came down to the shootout where Beck won it as the second shooter in round three.
The veteran forward skated in on Willmore and beat the Knights goaltender with a backhand deke to the glove side to end the game.
“There was no pressure on me,” Beck said of the shootout winner. “If I miss, we keep going.”
Beck said the move he used in the shootout is one he uses with confidence.
“Once I knew that there was no pressure, I kind of had the feel that it was going to be done,” Beck said. “You just have to go in confident.”
Dean joked that the overtime period “was a disaster.”
“If you’re a fan, it was a lot of fun,” Dean said. “If you’re a coach, not so much.”
Dean did say that a defensive play by Owen Allard to stop a breakaway in the extra frame was “a microcosm of who we want to be.”
“It might look like we’re out, but we don’t think we’re out,” Dean said.
Schenkel finished the night with 20 saves for the Greyhounds before stopping all three London shooters – Denver Barkey, Kasper Halttunen, and Gazizov – in the shootout.
“He looks like a weight’s been released off his shoulders,” Dean said of Schenkel early on this season. “He looks very free. He looks like he’s enjoying himself between the pipes.”
“I think he’s put a lot of pressure on himself the last few seasons and now it just looks like he’s having fun,” Dean added. “He’s engaged. He’s present in the moment and his natural skill is starting to come out.
For the Knights, Willmore stopped 24 shots in the loss.
The Greyhounds return to action this weekend with three games in four days on the road beginning on Friday night.
The team will be in Sarnia to take on the Sting to kick off the trip before heading to Flint to take on the Firebirds on Saturday night and then wrapping up the trip Monday afternoon in Windsor against the Spitfires.