Scoring four times in 11 minutes to start a hockey game is massive for any team.
For a team that struggled the way the Soo Greyhounds had in their previous two games, it took on an added meaning.
Playing on the road and having been outscored 9-1 in their past two games, it’s no secret that their pride took a hit
“To play 120 minutes the way we did, you have to start questioning your pride,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “You have to start thinking about what it is that people think about you as a hockey club and an individual on that hockey club. That’s why we got ourselves a nice game here tonight.”
That nice game saw the Greyhounds jump out to a 4-0 lead through the opening 11 minutes of play en route to a 6-2 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Flint Firebirds at the Dort Financial Center.
“It’s huge,” Dean said for the fast start. “Back-to-back disappointing efforts. For each other (the players) had to make a statement for each other. It’s not about staff or organization at that point. It’s about the guy beside you.”
“When you lack confidence, a start can really boost it,” Dean added. “For us to go up 4-0 early, the bench was lively, they started feeling good about themselves.”
Veteran forward Marco Mignosa called the start “definitely huge for our group.”
Dean called the start “the appropriate response” after the Greyhounds previous outings against Kitchener and London.
“There would be a major issue if we played the way we did the last two games and they don’t respond for each other tonight,” Dean said.
Mignosa said a lunchtime discussion prior to Saturday’s game saw the team talk about “do what you can do to help the team in any way whether it’s a bottom six role or a top six role.”
Mignosa added that he felt the talk helped with the Greyhounds getting off to a fast start against Flint.
“Guys bought into what they were supposed to be doing,” Mignosa said.
In addition to being up early, Dean said there were a number of things he liked about the Greyhounds first 10 minutes.
“I really liked our exits,” Dean said. “We’ve had a difficult time exiting the zone, which means you’re not going to get a lot of offensive zone time if you don’t cleanly exit your own end. We looked really connected as a group of five. Our D made really simple plays. Our low forward was in great spots to support. We just looked like a five-man connected group on the way out and that translated into some big success.”
Flint coach Paul Flache referenced being “disappointed” following the game.
“Not a good start at all,” Flache added in an interview with the Firebirds Hockey Network. “We spotted them a 4-0 lead before we started going. We battled back there at the end of the first period. I thought we would carry that into the second period, but it just didn’t happen. We need some guys to step up and start leading the team.”
The Greyhounds got on the board in the opening minute of the game thanks to a goal by Travis Hayes 42 seconds into the contest.
The second year forward got the puck in the slot and beat Flint starter Nathan Day glove side with a one-timer off a pass from Justin Cloutier down low to jump start the Greyhounds.
The visitors made it a 2-0 game as David Holub beat Day with a shot from the top of the left circle stick side at 4:37.
While on the power play, the Greyhounds took a 3-0 lead as Cloutier scored on a rebound from the left side of the goal after Noel Nordh couldn’t beat Day initially at 7:17.
The Greyhounds then made the most of a two-man advantage as Brady Martin took a cross-ice pass in the left faceoff circle from Nordh and beat Day at 10:47. The goal ended Day’s night between the pipes for Flint as Noah Bender entered the game in goal for the home team.
Flint picked up a bit of a spark following the goaltending change and got on the board just under five minutes later as defenceman Blake Smith found himself in the slot on the power play and redirected a pass from Nathan Aspinall past Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel to make it a 4-1 game.
Flint then cut the Sault lead to 4-2 as Kaden Pitre beat Schenkel with a shot stick side from the high slot at 17:13.
Martin picked up his second goal of the night in the middle stanza to extend the Greyhounds lead as he deflected a shot by Caeden Carlisle shot past Bender at 8:11.
Nordh capped off the scoring for the Greyhounds as he beat Bender on the power play with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle off a pass from Martin at 15:12.
Martin finished the night with two goals and two assists offensively while Mignosa also had a four-point night for the visitors, assisting on four goals in the victory.
Nordh added a goal and two assists for the Sault.
Additionally, Hayes and Cloutier had one of each.
Schenkel made 29 saves in goal.
“He was excellent,” Dean said. “He scrapped. He battled."
At the other end, Day stopped just four of the eight shots he faced before being pulled after the fourth Greyhounds goal in the opening period, which came just under 11 minutes into the game.
Bender stopped 17 of 19 shots the rest of the way.
The Greyhounds improve to 10-8-0-0 on the season ahead of a three-game homestand that opens up Wednesday night with a game against the Erie Otters.
The loss drops Flint’s record to 7-9-0-0.
Owen Allard remained out for the Greyhounds on Saturday night while the team also played the game without forwards Charlie Hilton and Christopher Brown, who also missed the game due to injuries.
Dean said both Hilton and Brown missed the game with upper body injuries suffered last night in Kitchener and added that both players would be evaluated by doctors when the team returned home.