SAGINAW, Mich. – The ability to bounce back from deficits was a positive.
A late-goal made the positives tougher to handle for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday evening.
Mason Millman scored the winning goal with 2:33 to go in regulation time as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Greyhounds in Ontario Hockey League action at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.
"It sucks,” said Greyhounds defenceman Robert Calisti. “We were coming in here desperate but we were still coming in with confidence. It definitely hurts losing it with two minutes left.”
“This one really stings,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We didn’t draw a picasso tonight but the kids found a way to battle back. It’s the way our luck has gone this road trip and they get a back-breaker at the end. It really hurts."
“We made a lot of mistakes but we kept bouncing back,” Dean also said.
Millman’s game winner came after the Greyhounds battled back to tie the game at four. His shot deflected off a body in the slot and past Christian Propp.
“We always talk about staying inside the dots and sorting it out from there,” Dean said. “We had guys working hard and trying to prevent a goal and probably working too hard and a little bit all over the place. We end up losing our responsibilities in our coverage and the puck ended up in the back of our net.”
For Dean, the tough stretch has brought the opportunity to learn and see how good the players can be.
"There are some pieces of work over the course of the season so far that really show that when we play the right way how good we can be,” Dean said. “A lot of our issues are self-inflicted.”
“If we were working our butts off and consistently playing the right way for 60 minutes, man it would be hard to go in that room and look at those guys in the eyes and tell them that we need to keep going here,” Dean added.
The expectations remain high.
“I think that we could win the conference if we wanted to,” Dean said. “It’s a matter of guys buying in and getting excited about what we have here and making sure we’re playing the right way for 60 minutes. I know it sounds crazy for me to say that but that’s how much I believe in this team. We’ve dug ourselves a pretty big hole here but it’s one win at a time.”
Propp made 31 saves.
“Propp was great,” Dean said. “We gave up a lot of chances and turned over a lot of pucks and they generated Grade-A opportunities and Christian Propp, you could see our bench rally behind him.”
“It’s definitely a big confidence boost when he’s behind us and playing well,” Calisti said.
Calisti had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Billy Constantinou, Jaromir Pytlik, and Kalvyn Watson also scored.
Millman had two goals and an assist for the Spirit. Danny Katic, Jake Gomdowski, and D.J. King also scored.
Cole Coskey, Reilly Webb, and Cole Perfetti assisted on two goals each.
Goaltender Tristan Lennox made 19 saves for the Spirit, who improve to 9-6-1-0.
The loss drops the Greyhounds record to 6-8-1-0 heading into a pair of games at home.
The team returns action on Nov. 1 against the Guelph Storm at the GFL Memorial Gardens. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m.
In other action around the OHL on Sunday, in Guelph, Nico Daws made 35 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Mississauga Steelheads 4-0. Andrei Bakanov had a goal and an assist for the Storm.
In London, Luke Evangelista scored a pair of goals as the London Knights beat the Niagara IceDogs 6-2. Connor McMichael assisted on three Knights goal.
In Ottawa, Joseph Garreffa had two goals and an assist as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Sarnia Sting 7-2. Noel Hoefenmayer assisted on four Ottawa goals. Austen Keating had a goal and two assists while Mitchell Hoelscher and Jack Quinn had a pair of goals each.
In Windsor, Thomas Stevenson’s goal at 4:36 of the third period was the eventual game-winner as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Sudbury Wolves 4-3. Tyler Angle had a goal and two assists for the Spitfires.
In Oshawa, Kyle McLean’s shorthanded goal in the third period was the game-winner as the Oshawa Generals scored three unanswered goals in a 3-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.