He’s been on a heck of a stretch in the past two weeks.
Since being acquired in a trade with the Kingston Frontenacs ahead of the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline earlier this month, Nolan Lalonde has posted a pair of shutouts with the Soo Greyhounds and now has his first OHL goal.
The overage netminder scored Friday night as the Greyhounds beat the Flint Firebirds 5-3 at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The goal came in the late stages of the game when the veteran netminder got the puck behind the Sault goal and shot it down the ice into an empty Flint net to help seal the win.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Lalonde said.
“I’ve tried but never scored,” Lalonde said, adding that he’s tried three or four times as an OHL goaltender.
Greyhounds coach John Dean called being behind the bench for Lalonde’s goal “one of the coolest moments of my hockey career.”
“Brendan Taylor and I hi-fived and I felt like a little kid hi-fiving across the bench for a goalie goal,” Dean said. “Then watching the sheer joy of Nolan’s teammates, I don’t know how to explain it.”
For Lalonde, his recent play has been partly due to him being able to acclimatize with his new team.
“I’ve settled in,” Lalonde said. “Just being here and getting to know the guys better and the coaching staff, I’ve just gotten settled in and just found a groove.”
“They have a lot of faith in me in there,” Lalonde added, speaking of his teammates. “It’s nice to know my teammates believe in me. They have my back and I have theirs. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Asked about his recent stretch, which has seen him pick up a pair of shutouts and wins in three of four starts, Dean talked about Lalonde’s ability to “calm us down.”
“It gives us an opportunity to learn from our mistakes while winning hockey games,” Dean added.
On a night when he turned aside no less than three breakaways by Flint players, Lalonde called turning back opposing forwards who are in alone one of the best feelings in hockey.
“It’s up there with scoring a goal,” Lalonde joked.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Lalonde added. “It’s part of the game and that’s why I play goalie..”
“Nolan gives us an opportunity to make mistakes and gives us time to find our way back to playing the right way,” Dean said. “He was incredible.”
Flint coach Paul Flache said the game was one in which the Firebirds “didn’t start particularly well.”
“They put us in footraces and got pucks behind our D a lot,” Flache added. “They wore us out a little bit.”
The Flint coach added that the third period was a positive.
“We had more energy there,” Flache said. “It seems lately we play batter in the third period than we do in the first two periods.”
Flache also credited Lalonde for the Greyhounds.
“We have to give him credit. We didn’t like some of the things we did for sure, but (he made) a couple big breakaway saves on (Christopher) Thibodeau and a breakaway save on (Matthew) Wang,” Flache said. “We had some opportunities.”
The Greyhounds opened the scoring as Caeden Carlisle scored his first goal of the season on a shot from the slot that beat Flint goaltender Nathan Day at 9:43 of the opening period.
Brady Martin made it a 2-0 game as he took a pass from Travis Hayes before beating Day stick side on a partial break in the opening minute of the second period.
The locals took a 3-0 lead at 8:46 when Carson Andrew followed up a rebound after Day stopped him initially on a chance near the side of the goal. The rookie forward then beat Day on the rebound from the slot.
With the teams playing 4-on-4 later in the period, Marco Mignosa made it a 4-0 game as he skated into open ice in the slot before taking a pass from Owen Allard and beating Day at 16:55.
After the Greyhounds had a shorthanded goal waved off on a review, Flint made it a 4-1 game at 11:15 of the third. Day received a penalty on the play in which the goal was waved off and Flint proceeded to get on the board with the teams playing at 4-on-4. Sam McCue in the right faceoff circle beat Lalonde with a one-timer off a pass from Kaden Pitre for the Firebirds.
The Firebirds then cut the lead to 4-2 as former Greyhound Alex Kostov beat Lalonde short side from the right faceoff circle at 16:13 but Lalonde would get the Greyhounds some added insurance with his empty net goal with 1:21 to go.
Flint capped off the scoring as Hayden Reid beat Lalonde from the right faceoff circle at 19:52.
Offensively for the Greyhounds, Hayes assisted on a pair of goals in the victory.
Lalonde finished the night with 21 saves.
Kostov had a goal and an assist for Flint while Blake Smith assisted on a pair of goals.
Day stopped 27 shots.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host the London Knights.
Friday’s victory was important in the standings in the OHL’s Western Conference for the Greyhounds.
With a 19-24-1-0 record, the Greyhounds pull to within one point of the Firebirds and Sarnia Sting for sixth in the conference. The Sting picked up a point Friday in an overtime loss against the Windsor Spitfires.
Combined with losses by the Guelph Storm and Owen Sound Attack on Friday night, the Greyhounds also move eight points ahead of both clubs for the eighth and final playoff spot in the west.
Guelph has played one fewer game than the Greyhounds and the Attack.