“It’s time to show some consistency in our game.”
On a night where they opened a three-game road trip with one of their best performances in recent weeks, it’s about looking forward for the Soo Greyhounds.
Channelling his inner Bill Belichick, Greyhounds coach John Dean said it’s about looking ahead to Kingston when asked when his team needs to do to carry on what was successful in a Thursday night win over the Peterborough Petes.
The Greyhounds opened a three-game road trip Thursday by blanking the Petes 7-0 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Ontario Hockey League play.
It was a game in which they found a lot to like.
“We were making good choices at the blueline and that’s something we preach, trying not to turn over the puck as much (at the offensive blueline),” Greyhounds forward Owen Allard said. “We were getting pucks behind their D and establishing the forecheck.”
Dean called the win “a motivated effort.”
“We got attached to an identity that we can find success with, which is hounding pucks and high shot volume,” Dean added. “We played a game that looked very direct, and we got a lot of opportunities at the blue paint.”
Asked what specifically was part of that identity, Dean referenced “pace before problem solving, decision making at the opponents blueline, not overpassing the puck and having the shooters instincts, hungry in the blue paint, hungry for rebounds” as being part of it.
“We did a great job of stopping when we got back to our end,” Dean added. “Our return to D zone coverage was excellent. These are all details that have to be refined on a consistent basis.”
With his team scoring quick goals at a pair of points in the opening two periods, Dean said he was happiest with the Greyhounds not getting away from what made them successful in the win.
“In the past, we would have gotten away from that, but we stuck to it for the remainder of the game. That’s the critical piece,” Dean said.
Dean added that the game was “our best game in a few weeks.”
The overage forward agreed that the result meant a “big sigh of relief” because of the struggles of the team lately.
“We knew (Peterborough) was hot coming into tonight and we had a good start and kept the ball rolling,” Allard added.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring at 12:33 of the opening period as Owen Allard scored on a rebound in the slot after Peterborough goaltender Easton Rye stopped a point shot by Chase Reid initially on the play.
The visitors took a 2-0 lead at 13:59 as Travis Hayes scored from the right wing off a rebound of a Brady T. Smith shot from the left side of the net on the power play.
The Greyhounds made it a 3-0 game at 6:42 of the second period as Jordan Charron beat Rye high glove side on a breakaway with the teams playing 4-on-4. Charron got in behind the Petes defence inside the Peterborough blueline and took advantage.
Allard scored to make it 4-0 at 8:31 of the middle stanza as he went to the net and took a pass from Noel Nordh on the left wing before beating Rye high stick side from in tight.
The Greyhounds ended Rye’s night early as Justin Cloutier took a breakaway pass from Brady Martin and proceeded to beat the Petes netminder 1:06 later
Cloutier picked up his second of the night 1:21 after his initial goal as he beat Petes goaltender Masen Johnston with a shot from the right faceoff circle that deflected off the stick of Petes defenceman Martin Matejicek and beat Johnston high stick side to make it 6-0.
The Greyhounds capped off the scoring as Marco Mignosa scored on his own rebound in tight at 4:33 of the third period.
In addition to the two goal nights from Allard and Cloutier, Reid assisted on three goals for the Greyhounds, giving him 11 points in his last six games and 16 points in 13 games since signing with the Greyhounds in December.
Mignosa added a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Keegan Gillen assisted on a pair of goals for the Sault.
Goaltender Nolan Lalonde made 36 saves for the shutout.
“The score makes it look like it was an easy game, but in the second half of the game, we gave up a lot of chances against, but that’s the nature of the beast with a big score,” Dean said. “He just held real strong.”
“These are games he’s capable of when he’s very focused,’ Dean added.
Lalonde called the game “some of the most fun I’ve had playing hockey in a long time.”
“The group we have, everybody is so tight, it’s such an amazing group and that just makes it more special,” Lalonde added.
The overage netminder said he “just tried to play” and “not overthink it” in the win.
Rye stopped 25 of the 30 shots he faced for the Petes in just under 30 minutes before coming out of the game. Johnston stopped 19 of 21 Sault shots the rest of the way.
The win snaps a four-game losing skid for the Greyhounds as the team prepares for a Friday night matchup in Kingston against the Frontenacs before wrapping up their three-game road trip Sunday afternoon in Ottawa against the 67’s.
With the win, the Greyhounds move four points ahead of the Guelph Storm for the eighth and final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference though the Storm also hold a game in hand after being off on Thursday night.
The Greyhounds are also two points behind the Sarnia Sting with a game in hand in the conference standings. The Flint Firebirds are also two points ahead of the Sault
With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 17-23-1-0 on the season while Peterborough falls to 10-25-2-5.