The Soo Greyhounds know how critical the game was, but they're also not going to hit the panic button just yet.
Facing a team they're currently battling for positioning with in the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference standings, a battle that is for a playoff spot at this point, the Greyhounds struggled to find offence on Saturday night
That struggle led to a 4-2 loss to the Guelph Storm at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
It also meant the Storm gained two points on the eighth-seeded Greyhounds in the conference standings.
A power play goal 19 seconds into a two-man advantage early in the third period turned out to be the winner for the Storm after the Greyhounds took a pair of penalties on the same shift, one at each end of the ice.
“When you’re chasing and you get your stick involved, you put yourself at risk for those calls to be made,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “That’s the reality of it. In such a critical game, we can’t take those two penalties.”
Ultimately, a hard time generating offence turned into a major issue for the Greyhounds as well in the setback.
“We’re really struggling to generate (offence),” Dean said. “Guelph did a really good job of clogging up the middle of the ice.”
Dean added that Guelph’s trap and defensive game were also solid and made life difficult for the Greyhounds.
“We got frustrated by it,” Dean added. “There’s times where we hunted and off a lot of perseverance and hard work we got a chance or two. That’s a playoff style of game. It’s difficult to come by opportunities to score and then we get frustrated and try to skate through the while team and that plays right into a trap.”
Guelph coach Cory Stillman also noted the play of the Storm in the neutral zone in the victory.
“We did a good job in the neutral zone,” Stillman said. “We made them dump some pucks in. They’re a highly skilled team and if they can come through the middle of the ice with speed, they’re going to get a lot of chances.”
Stillman added that he felt the Guelph penalty kill was solid in the final period in holding the Greyhounds at bay.
Guelph got on the board first as Carter Stevens scored on a rebound in close after Sault goaltender Nolan Lalonde stopped a point shot by Quinn Beauchesne on the power play 2:53 into the opening period.
The Greyhounds tied the game on a power play of their own as Owen Allard took a pass in tight from Justin Cloutier and beat Guelph starter Colin Ellsworth at 17:25.
The home side then took a 2-1 lead as Brady R. Smith took a pass in close from Allard and beat Ellsworth 1:35 later.
Guelph made it a 2-2 game in the middle period as Sam Johnston deflected a sharp angle shot by Ryan McGuire past Lalonde at 15:07.
The Storm then took a 3-2 lead at 1:17 of the third period while on a two-man advantage. Max Namestnikov skated into the Sault zone and his initial shot was wide of the goal, but he followed up the play and scored on his own rebound.
Allard had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Reid assisted on a pair of goals.
Lalonde made 19 saves for the Sault.
Lev Katzin capped off the scoring for the Storm with an empty net goal in the final minute of play.
Katzin paced the Storm with a goal and two assists in the victory while Ellsworth stopped 24 shots to pick up his first OHL win.
On the injury front for the Greyhounds, import forward Noel Nordh missed the game due to illness.
Travis Hayes and Spencer Evans remain out due to injuries.
Dean said both players could potentially see action on the road when the Greyhounds travel to take on Peterborough, Kingston and Ottawa. Both still need to be cleared by doctors before suiting up.
For the Storm, Jett Luchanko missed the game while serving the second game of a two-game league imposes suspension while Jake Karabela also remained out due to injury.
Defenceman Noah Jenken missed the game as well after being taken to hospital following a hit by Flint Firebirds forward Connor Clattenburg Friday night in Flint.
Jenken was taken from the ice on a stretcher and spent the night in hospital.
Guelph is slated to return to action on Friday night in London against the Knights.
With the win, the Storm improve to 13-22-4-1 on the season and sit two points behind the Greyhounds in the Western Conference standings as the Greyhounds fall to 16-23-1-0.