They weren’t happy with how it got there, but they’re taking the positives out of it.
The Soo Greyhounds dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Saginaw Spirit on Saturday night at the Dow Event Center in Ontario Hockey League action.
The result came after the Spirit tied the game on a power play in the final minute of regulation time and then got an overtime goal moments after the Greyhounds had an opportunity to end it earlier in the shift, but hit a post.
“They battled their asses off,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We had a real good first 14 minutes or so. Unfortunately, with the two goals against, we had a little lapse.”
After Saginaw took the lead late in the opening period, Dean added that the Greyhounds responded well.
“We came out and we dominated the second period and then we played a good defensively structured third,” Dean said. “We were a little passive in the third period, but the boys battled and we find a way to put ourselves up by one and unfortunately got robbed by the referees two games in a row.”
Saginaw tied the game late in regulation after Greyhounds defenceman Caeden Carlisle was given a cross-checking minor with 33 seconds to go and the Spirit goaltender already on the bench for an extra attacker.
“Somehow a cross check came out of a scrum where their guys were on top of our goalie and everyone was scrumming,” Dean said.
Despite the late goal to force overtime, the Greyhounds response was something that pleased him.
“I liked the way we responded,” Dean said. “Our guys compete. We responded great in overtime, but it didn’t work out for us.”
“The guys, even having a young team, stuck together,” added forward Mark Duarte about the mentality after the late game-tying goal. “We just have to put out heads down and keep working. (Andrew Gibson) went down and hit a post, that’s another bounce that didn’t go our way, but I’m proud of how we rebounded from that (tying goal).”
Dean called the game one that “could have gone a different way.”
“I feel horribly for our guys. I want them to experience success from the hard work they’re putting in,” Dean added. “If we play like that consistently, we’re going to find ways to win games. It wasn’t a piece of art, but we had an opportunity to win that hockey game.”
For the Spirit, the continued improvement of his team is something that stands out for coach Chris Lazary.
“These guys play hard for each other. We’re getting a lot better every game,” Lazary said in an interview on the Spirit television broadcast. “We’re finding ways to win games. Our goalies are playing unbelievable. I’m proud of the group. This is a hard league to win in, but we just keep grinding and I love that about our guys.”
The Greyhounds opened the scoring 3:45 into the game as he beat Saginaw goaltender Andrew Oke on a wraparound moments after being stopped in alone.
With Saginaw on the power play, Pavel Mintyukov got Saginaw on the board at 13:47 when he took a pass in the right faceoff circle from Dean Loukos and beat Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel glove side.
Luke McNamara made it 2-1 Saginaw at 15:38 when he beat Schenkel with a wraparound to the stick side.
Duarte tied the game for the Greyhounds with 28 seconds to go in the second period. The overage forward took a pass from Tyler Savard while going to the net and beat Oke glove side to send the game into the third tied at two.
With 7:50 to go in the third period, Kalvyn Watson took a pass in the slot from Marco Mignosa and beat Oke with a shot stick side that handcuffed the Spirit netminder.
Saginaw tied the game with 15.7 seconds to go as Mintyukov picked up his second power play goal of the night. The second year defenceman took a cross-ice pass from Josh Bloom and beat Schenkel stick side.
The game-winner came off the stick of Davis Codd, who broke down the right wing and beat Schenkel high glove side with a shot from the right faceoff circle. The goal came seconds after Gibson nearly ended the game for the visitors as he hit the post at the other end.
In addition to the two-goal night from Duarte, Savard assisted on a pair of goals for the Greyhounds in the loss.
Schenkel made 30 saves for the visitors.
Bloom had a pair of assists for the Spirit in the win, assisting on both of Mintyukov’s power play goals.
Oke stopped 25 shots for the Spirit.
The loss drops the Greyhounds record to 5-6-4-2 as they wrap up the weekend with a game in London against the Knights on Sunday afternoon.
Saginaw improves to 11-6-1-2 with the win.