In the end, it’s something to build on.
It wasn’t perfect, but the Soo Greyhounds losing skid came to an end on Sunday afternoon with a 6-4 Ontario Hockey League win over the North Bay Battalion at the North Bay Memorial Gardens.
After struggling out of the gate on Saturday night in Sudbury, the Greyhounds took a 2-0 lead in the opening period against North Bay, outshooting the Battalion 18-4 in the frame as well.
“It was a very good start,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We’re really happy with the way we came out. It made it pretty that the guys looked like they were on a mission. It was one of our best periods in a long time and it reflected on the scoreboard.”
North Bay cut into the lead with just over seven minutes to go in the second period before tying the game in the opening minute of the third.
Just 22 seconds after North Bay tied the game at two, Tye Kartye would give the Greyhounds the lead for good and Jaromir Pytlik would extend the lead 1:06 after Kartye broke the tie.
It was the first of two instances in the third period in which the Greyhounds would recover after North Bay battled back.
The second came with five minutes to go in the third when Zack Trott beat North Bay goaltender Cameron Lamour from the right circle to make it 6-4.
Trott’s goal came just 19 seconds after Avery Winslow scored for North Bay to cut the Greyhounds lead back to one goal.
Not pleased with allowing North Bay back into the game, Dean spoke of the importance of the Greyhounds rebounding in both instances, including the late goal by Trott.
“That’s a pretty exceptional response,” Dean said. “I like that (Trott) chose not to pass the puck. It shows that he wanted to find a play and he was very confident in himself. It was a no-doubter.”
On a two-on-one with Pytlik, Trott said following the game he did consider making a pass on the play but saw an opening and beat Lamour high glove.
“It was big,” Trott said of the goal.
“I thought of passing but I saw an opening,” Trott added.
North Bay’s inability to maintain momentum when getting back into the game was an issue for interim coach Ryan Oulahen, who spoke on the issue in a story on BayToday.
“What killed us was our inability to sustain after getting a big goal,” Oulahen said. “We gave it up right away. It happened multiple times in the game where we score a goal, then they scored within 30 seconds. We just weren’t able to have that really good next shift to keep things going.
“We’re struggling right now to have back-to-back really good performances,” Oulahen also said. “I’m not talking about the winning, I’m talking about playing our way for 60 minutes. We did it really well in Sudbury (on Friday night), but we need to find a way to be a more consistent hockey team.”
With the team struggling offensively during the losing streak, five different forwards had goals for the Greyhounds on Sunday and it’s something that Dean hopes will spark the confidence of the group.
“Anytime you see guys get rewarded for doing the things and get the monkey off their back and score some goals, you hope that spirals into some confidence moving into the next game,” Dean said. “This game is largely based on confidence and how you feel about yourself at the moment.”
“That’s what we need,” added Greyhounds forward Rory Kerins, who scored twice. “That’s the kind of team we are. We’re not a front, heavy-loaded scoring team. We’re not relying on one guy. We’re relying on a bunch of guys to get the scoring done.”
Trott finished the day with a goal and two assists.
Cole MacKay also had a pair of helpers for the Greyhounds.
Joe Carroll added a goal and an assist to round out the scoring for the Greyhounds.
Greyhounds goaltender Nick Malik picked up his first win as a member of the Greyhounds, stopping 19 shots.
Winslow finished the day with a goal and two assists for the Battalion while Alex Christopoulos scored a pair of goals.
Shane Bulitka had the other goal for North Bay.
Lamour made 27 saves for North Bay.
The Greyhounds record improves to 21-23-2-0 and the win pulls the team to within four points of the Erie Otters for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference. Erie did not play on Sunday.
The Greyhounds return to action on Jan. 30 as the team opens a three-game swing against East Division teams. The team will be in Peterborough to face the Petes before facing the Kingston Frontenacs the following night and wrapping the trip up in Ottawa with an afternoon game against the 67’s on Feb. 2.
Sunday’s loss drops North Bay’s record to 11-32-2-0.
In other action around the OHL on Sunday, in Hamilton, Marco Costantini stopped 37 shots as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Peterborough Petes 4-3. Isaac Nurse and Lawson Sherk assisted on a pair of goals each for Hamilton.
In London, Liam Foudy had a goal and an assist as the London Knights doubled up the Guelph Storm 4-2.
In Mississauga, Cole Schwindt scored 45 seconds into overtime to help the Mississauga Steelheads to a 5-4 win over the Kitchener Rangers. Schwindt had a natural hat trick for Mississauga, who scored four unanswered goals in the game.
In Ottawa, Jack Quinn had a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Saginaw Spirit 5-2. Austen Keating chipped in with a goal and two assists for the 67’s. Ottawa goaltender Cedrick Andree made 39 saves.
In Sarnia, Will Cuylle had the shootout winner as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Sarnia Sting 3-2. Spitfires goaltender Xavier Medina made 39 saves and stopped six of seven shooters in the shootout.
In Oshawa, Josh Nelson had the overtime winner as the Barrie Colts beat the Oshawa Generals 3-2. Nelson had a pair of goals for Barrie while goaltender Arturs Silovs made 34 saves.
In Kingston, Ryan Dugas made 24 saves as the Kingston Frontenacs blanked the Niagara IceDogs 2-0. Zayde Wisdom assisted on both Kingston goals.
-With files from SooToday sister-site BayToday