With points at a premium, Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean has regularly talked about the need to string together some wins.
Facing a short turnaround after playing on the road on Friday night in a win over Sudbury, the Greyhounds skated to a 5-3 Ontario Hockey League win on Saturday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The team jumped out to a 4-1 lead and sealed the win with a late goal into an empty Kingston net just moments after a key penalty kill kept the Frontenacs from tying the game.
“Especially in the first 30 minutes, the guys showed that they really wanted to dial in and find a way to get two points,” Dean said. “I really loved our first half of the game. The second half of the game had some mental errors and some mental fatigue, and it cost us a little bit, but we found a way to get two points.”
Despite trailing early, the Frontenacs saw some positives in the contest.
“I didn’t necessarily think the start was terrible,” said Kingston coach Kurtis Foster. “The Sault took it to us a little bit with their speed and their transition in the first period.
“I liked the resolve of our team,” Foster added. “We had a good second period and we took the play to them for a majority of the third.”
The fast start turned out to be the key for the Greyhounds, who remain three points behind the Erie Otters for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.
“It was critical for us,” Dean said. “To watch the guys put the effort that they put in, it\s more of a mental thing than anything. It’s not easy but we did a good job of it.”
The Greyhounds improve to 28-31-3-1 thanks to Saturday’s win and continue to trail the Otters in the standings after Erie also won on Saturday, beating the Niagara IceDogs.
The Otters have a game in hand on the Greyhounds, which they will play on Sunday afternoon at home against the Saginaw Spirit.
For the Greyhounds, goaltender Bailey Brkin was solid, making 35 saves, including 17 in the final period.
“Brkin was great, especially in the third period when they peppered us pretty good,” Dean said.
Foster agreed with Dean’s assessment of the Greyhounds overage netminder, noting Brkin’s play in the third period as well.
Zack Trott had two goals and a assist to pace the Greyhounds offensively.
Joe Carroll and Tye Kartye added a goal and an assist each for the locals, while Tanner Dickinson also scored.
Nick King, Zayde Wisdom, and Vitali Pinchuk scored for Kingston.
Martin Chromiak and Jakob Brahaney assisted on two goals each for the Frontenacs.
Overage goaltender Christian Propp made 25 saves.
Foster was pleased with the final 20 minutes of the contest for the Frontenacs but added that “that’s the way we need to play from the beginning.”
“We had lots of shots and opportunities around the net, but we have to find a way to bear down,” Foster added.
The Greyhounds penalty kill came up big in the third period, killing off a late penalty to Carroll shortly before Trott iced the game with an empty net goal with 52 seconds to go.
“The PK came up big when it had to,” Dean said. “They guys dug in. (Brkin) dug in. That’s really what you need is timely special teams and we got timely special teams tonight.”
With the Otters remaining up by three points heading into Sunday, the Greyhounds remain focused on trying to control what they can.
“We’re just focusing on winning our games,” Dean said. “We did what we were supposed to do tonight and now we’ll focus on doing what we’re supposed to do on Wednesday and that’s all we can control.”
Facing a similar situation as the Greyhounds while they battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Frontenacs fall to 19-38-2-2. Having lost eight of their last 10 games, the Frontenacs are currently tied with the Niagara IceDogs for the final playoff spot in the conference with 42 points.
In other action around the OHL on Saturday, in Hamilton, Bode Wilde and Ilya Solovyov had a pair of goals each as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 8-6. Mason Millman assisted on three goals for Saginaw.
In Flint, Vladislav Kolyachonok scored a 2:52 of overtime to lift the Flint Firebirds to a 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Flint goaltender Anthony Popovich made 39 saves while Windsor goaltender Kari Piiroinen made 36.
In St. Catharines, Brendan Sellan scored a pair of goals as the Erie Otters beat the Niagara IceDogs 4-2.
In Peterborough, Nick Robertson had two goals and two assists as the Peterborough Petes beat the Mississauga Steelheads 5-1. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev added a goal and two assists for the Petes.
In Barrie, Joseph Garreffa and Graeme Clarke had a goal and two assists each as the Ottawa 67’s blanked the Barrie Colts 6-0. Cedrick Andree stopped 13 shots for the shutout.
In Owen Sound, Dylan Myskiw made 33 saves as the London Knights beat the Owen Sound Attack 3-1.