It’s certainly going to make the bus ride home a lot easier.
The Soo Greyhounds bent but didn’t break late on Sunday afternoon as the team picked up a 4-3 Ontario Hockey League win over the Owen Sound Attack at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound.
The win came at an important time after the team struggled through a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Oshawa Generals in Oshawa on Friday night.
A day off on Saturday allowed the team to regroup.
“We got back to our game,” said defenceman Andrew Gibson. “We got away from our game in Oshawa. All the guys were tired. We had a late night (the night before), and we were discombobulated. Today, we were all together.”
Veteran forward Tyler Savard added that having a day off on Saturday after the Oshawa game “was huge for us.”
On the day off, the Greyhounds players took in Owen Sound’s game against Guelph as a way to get a feel for how the Attack play on home ice.
“Owen Sound plays a completely different style of hockey in their own rink,” Savard said. “Us coming in on Saturday was a really good stepping stone.”
“I liked that we didn’t look nervous at all,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “We controlled the puck in the offensive zone very nicely. Our D made really good reads on when to move and when to be involved in the offensive zone without doing it in a risky way, and that’s going to be ultimately what takes us off.”
Thanks to a pair of quick goals midway through the opening period, the Greyhounds jumped out to the lead and, for a team looking to bounce back with a better effort, a strong opening period with a pair of goals turned out to be crucial.
“They’re a strong team, and we knew we needed to bounce back after the Oshawa game,” Gibson said. “Those first two goals really helped. We got our confidence under us really quick, and the guys stuck with it to the end.”
Dean said the coaching staff told the team that “this is really going to define your character.”
“We showed a lot of character in the first 50 minutes, and we bent but didn’t break in the last 10,” Dean said.
Asked about the final 10 minutes of regulation, Dean said it came down to a couple of plays and some nervous feelings.
“It comes down to Sammy (Ivanov) had a tough time playing the puck behind the net (on the second Owen Sound goal), and that’s not to pick on Sammy; he was great all night. He had a tough time playing the puck, and it got us into some trouble,” Dean said. “They hemmed us in and pressed. We made a really poor decision on the penalty kill where we’ve got to get the puck 200 feet and we tried to make a play for a turnover for a goal against. Then you could see the pressure start to mount and we looked a little anxious, and Owen Sound could sense that and pounced on it.”
Dean did say he felt Ivanov played well overall in the win.
“He continues to bounce back after tough games,” Dean said. “He was rested and played well.”
Dean said he was pleased with the Greyhounds bouncing back after a subpar game in Oshawa on Friday.
“Today was a test,” Dean said. “If we have a tough night tonight, then it’s ‘OK, we’re still that inconsistent team.’ I’m really proud because it looks like we understand the formula that finds us success.”
The Greyhounds opened the scoring with a power play marker at 8:41 of the opening period. Set up near the top of the left faceoff circle, Kirill Kudryavtsev took a pass from Tyler Savard at the bottom of the right circle and beat Owen Sound goaltender Nick Chenard glove side.
Just 59 seconds later, Connor Toms made it 2-0 Greyhounds as he skated into the right faceoff circle and took a short pass from Ethan Montroy before beating Chenard with a shot stick side.
The Greyhounds nearly took a 3-0 lead when a chance by Bryce McConnell-Barker on a shorthanded 2-on-1 hit both posts and stayed out.
On the next shift, Servac Petrovsky made it a 2-1 game with a power play goal. The veteran forward one-timed a pass in the right circle from Cedrick Guindon on the left side past Samuel Ivanov to get the home side on the board at 16:33.
The Greyhounds restored the two-goal lead 3:07 into the second period when a shot by Tyler Savard from near the top of the left circle beat Chenard glove side through traffic.
Andrew Gibson made it a 4-1 game 19 seconds later as he beat Chenard with a shot through traffic, ending the day for the Attack netminder as Corbin Votary took over the goaltending duties.
The Attack made a game of it as Petrovsky scored his second of the day with 7:25 to go. He took a pass from Guindon below the goalline after the latter picked up a loose puck near the goal on a rebound that Ivanov couldn’t corral.
With 49 seconds to go, Petrovsky made it a one-goal game as the import forward beat Ivanov glove side on a one-timer from the slot after a pass from Colby Barlow on the power play.
Savard finished the day with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds, while Mark Duarte and Matthew Virgilio finished the day with a pair of assists each.
Ivanov stopped 28 shots.
In addition to the three-goal night for Petrovsky, Barlow and Kaleb Lawrence had a pair of assists for Owen Sound.
Chenard stopped 15 shots for the Attack before being pulled in the second period after the fourth Sault goal. Votary stopped all 10 shots he faced the rest of the way for Owen Sound.
Owen Sound lost forward Deni Goure due to injury early in Sunday’s game after he was clipped with a high stick and cut. Already playing the game with 11 forward, the Attack moved defenceman Sam Sedley up to fill in, a move they were forced to make in the last meeting between the two clubs after some late scratches prior to puck drop.
With Sunday’s victory, the Greyhounds have won four of their past five games. The team now has a record of 10-11-4-4.
Owen Sound falls to 16-10-2-1 with the loss and has lost four straight.
The Greyhounds return to action on Friday night as the team plays its final two games prior to the Christmas break. The team will face the Kitchener Rangers on Friday before wrapping up the pre-Christmas schedule with a game against the Guelph Storm in Guelph the following night.