“This one really stings.”
That from Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean Saturday night following the teams third consecutive overtime loss.
On the heels of back-to-back overtime losses, the Soo Greyhounds battled back after falling behind by a pair of goals through 40 minutes, but couldn’t find a way to finish things off in a 4-3 OT loss to the Barrie Colts in Ontario Hockey League action at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
“I don’t want this to be the narrative of our team,” Dean added. “The first two, I didn’t mind so much. We had a chance to win the first two overtime losses, but when it happens three games in a row, it becomes a trend.”
Dean added that the team needs “to find a way to be closers.”
After a somewhat slow start to the third period, the Greyhounds scored a pair of goals in the period to tie the game at three and send the game to an extra period.
“The first four or five minutes I didn’t love, and then I loved our last 15 minutes,” Dean said.
“I’m happy that we’re resilient,” Dean said. “I’m not happy that we’re unable to bear down on our chances. We need a little more swagger in our game and that comes to closing out games and putting teams away.”
Asked about gaining that “swagger” Dean said “I do believe that preparation creates confidence.”
“How you practice is how you play,” Dean added. “We need to bear down in practice and put pucks in the twine. Experiencing success and realizing you can do it is important and that’s what bothers me is that I don’t want this to be something that we accept that this is normal for us.”
With just one game on the schedule, a home game next Friday, prior to a road trip at the end of the month, Dean said the focus in additional practice time will be on the offensive side of the puck.
“We’ve cleaned up some stuff in a significant way away from the puck,” Dean said. “Now, it’s time for us to dive in and get that swagger. We’re not accepting a team that’s not going to close game.”
Prior to battling back, Dean was not pleased with a stretch in the middle stanza that saw the Colts tie the game at one before scoring on back-to-back shifts to take a 3-1 lead.
“That was real tough,” Dean said. “Our response after that was very poor with the exception of (Harrison) Ballard’s line. We had a six- or seven-minute stretch where it looked like maybe the game was going to get away from us.”
Dean added that he was happier with the final minutes of the second period after the lull.
For the Colts, the opening 40 minutes saw the team jump out of the gate and, despite trailing after one period, Barrie coach Marty Williamson was pleased with the first two periods.
“We looked fast out there and we were playing on our toes,” Williamson said. “We didn’t turn the puck over too much.”
Williamson also spoke of the Colts power play, which struggled in their win on Friday night in Sudbury and gave up shorthanded chances by the Greyhounds in Saturday’s contest as well.
“Our power play is really struggling,” Williamson said. “We have to take advantage of some of these opportunities. We got a five-on-three early, and a five-on-four and we really didn’t get that much. Then they get one and they score within 20 seconds. Those things wear on you a little bit.
Shortly after killing a 5-on-3, the Greyhounds opened the scoring as Bryce McConnell-Barker beat Barrie goaltender Ben West from the left faceoff circle through traffic at 7:16 of the opening period on the power play.
Cooper Matthews tied the game for the Colts at 3:32 of the second period when he beat Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov with a shot from the high slot high glove side.
Callum Chisholm made it 2-1 Barrie at 7:14 when he broke down the left wing and beat Greyhounds goaltender Ivanov high glove side from the left circle.
On the next shift, Carter Lowe scored his first OHL goal on a breakaway. Lowe took a pass from Beau Jelsma and went high glove on a backhand to extend the lead for Barrie.
In the third period, the Greyhounds cut the Colts lead to one when Mark Duarte beat West from the high slot 5-hole at 9:30.
The Greyhounds wasted little time tying the game as McConnell-Barker deflected a shot from the right point by Andrew Gibson past West on the next shift to make it a 3-3 game.
Jacob Frasca connected for the winner for the Colts 1:58 into overtime when he cut into the slot from the right win and beat Ivanov high glove.
Ivanov stopped 26 shots for the Greyhounds in the loss.
Matthews picked up a goal and an assist for Barrie in the win while West stopped 29 shots.
With the loss, the Greyhounds record sits at 2-3-3-0 after dropping three-straight overtime contests.
Barrie improves to 4-2-0-0 with the victory.
The Greyhounds return to action on Oct. 21 when they host the Ottawa 67’s.
With Connor Toms returning to the lineup in Saturday’s game from injury, veteran forward Tyler Savard remains out with one more game left to serve on his four-game suspension, which will be the game against Ottawa.
Dean also said Saturday that Caeden Carlisle remains out due to injury and his status for Friday’s game against the 67’s remains up in the air.
For the Colts, veteran defenceman Artur Cholach missed Saturday’s game due to an injury suffered in the Colts Friday-night win in Sudbury.