Call it the biggest game of the season or a must win.
Regardless of which way you slice it, the points were easily the most important ones of the entire Ontario Hockey League regular season to this point for either team.
In the end, it was the Soo Greyhounds who held on for what could be called their most important win of the season to this point.
The Greyhounds held on for a 5-4 win over the Sarnia Sting Friday night at Sarnia’s Progressive Auto Sales Arena in a game between teams battling for one of the final two playoff spots in the OHL’s Western Conference standings.
“It’s a really big win for us,” said Swedish forward Noel Nordh. “We knew we had to win this game, and it was a really big game for us.”
Second year forward Brady Martin called the win “huge.”
Rookie forward Carson Andrew called it “the biggest game to date.”
“It wasn’t the best game, but we got the job done,” Andrew added.
Nordh said he felt the Greyhounds played “a simple brand of hockey.”
Greyhounds coach John Dean said he was “beyond proud” of his team following the victory.
“You could see the fatigue at the beginning of the game in our guys,” Dean added. “For us to scrap the way we did and find a way to get two points in the biggest game of the season, I’m really proud.”
Dean said there was a sense after one period that the Greyhounds didn’t have their “A game” in Friday’s contest.
“Guys were disappointed in themselves,” Dean also said. “That’s very difficult for a young team to scrap and claw when you don’t feel like you’re bringing your best. It’s easy to roll over. Our guys decided to dig in.”
Martin said he felt the Greyhounds “had good parts of the game, but we could have been a lot better.”
“We found a way to win and got the two points and that’s what we came for,” Martin added.
A team that has struggled with leads at times this season, Dean said Friday’s contest was a good learning experience for his club after the Sting made it a one-goal game and pushed for the equalizer in the final minutes of the contest.
“When it did get to one goal, they were definitely coming, but I also thought we did a lot of good things,” Dean said. “The thing for me is that we need to continue to learn the areas of the game that you need to clamp down on in those last six or seven minutes.”
“Some things you can continue to press on and some things you can’t,” Dean added. “We’re still learning those lessons.
Sarnia opened the scoring at 11:26 of the opening period as Easton Wainwright beat Greyhounds goaltender Nolan Lalonde with a shot from the slot glove side through a Greyhounds player.
On the power play, the Greyhounds tied the game as Nordh went to the net and redirected a back-door pass from Marco Mignosa past Sting goaltender Evan Maillet on the power play 1:29 into the second period.
The visitors then took a 2-1 lead as Brady T. Smith skated into the slot and beat Maillet after taking a pass from Jordan Charron below the goalline after the latter circled the Sarnia net with a loose puck at 6:10.
Sarnia tied the game at two as Matthew Manza beat Lalonde with a shot from the top of the left circle glove side on the power play at 9:11
The Greyhounds made it a 3-2 game 3:11 later as Andrew deflected a Brodie McConnell-Barker shot from the left point past Maillet.
The Greyhounds took a two-goal lead 5:20 into the third period when Mignosa took a pass in the slot from Travis Hayes below the goalline and beat Maillet.
Nordh picked up his second of the night as he took a pass in the left circle from Jordan Charron and beat Maillet at 8:19 to make it a 5-2 game.
Nordh said he saw Charron breaking up the ice and went to the other side of the ice to create a 2-on-1 before taking a no-look pass from his linemate and potting what was eventually the game-winning goal.
Sarnia pulled to within two again when Beckham Edwards went to the net and redirected a pass from Dylan Luecke past Lalonde at 10:57.
The Sting got it back to a one-goal game 2:41 later after a turnover by the Greyhounds. Liam Beamish proceeded to get the puck to Edwards in the slot who beat Lalonde to make it a 5-4 game but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Nordh paced the Greyhounds offensively in the victory with two goals and an assist.
Dean called the game one of Nordh’s “best games in the last 10 to 15 games.”
“He willed his way to an unbelievable hockey game tonight,” Dean added. “He was determined to have an impact on the game.”
Mignosa added a goal and an assist for the Sault while Martin assisted on a pair of goals.
Lalonde made 23 saves on 27 Sarnia shots in the game.
In addition to the two-goal night from Edwards, Beamish and Mitch Young had two assists each for Sarnia.
Maillet stopped 27 shots in the setback.
The Greyhounds wrap up the weekend on Saturday night in Flint against the Firebirds.
Friday’s result in Sarnia along with the Owen Sound Attack skating to a big win over the Guelph Storm in Guelph meant some movement in the battle for the final two playoff spots in the OHL’s Western Conference.
Owen Sound entered action on Friday night one point ahead of the Greyhounds for the final playoff spot in the conference. With their win, Owen Sound moves one point ahead of Sarnia and now sits seventh in the standings as a result of the Sting loss.
The Greyhounds win, which improves their record to 25-35-2-2, means the Greyhounds move into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the Sting.
All three teams had four games remaining in their regular season schedules.
The Greyhounds and Sting are also scheduled to meet one more time, which is next weekend in the Sault on the final day of the OHL’s regular season.
With Friday’s loss, Sarnia’s record falls to 21-31-5-7 on the season.