He’s not one to want to get ahead of himself but a stretch of solid starts have been a major positive for the Soo Greyhounds of late, and for coach John Dean the hope is that starting well is becoming “a habit.”
On Wednesday night, the Greyhounds jumped out to a 3-0 lead through one period and picked up a 6-3 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Sudbury Wolves at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
“I’m really happy with the way the guys are preparing themselves,” Dean said. “That’s four or five good starts in a row now, so it seems to be hopefully turning into a habit.”
Dean went on to say that, in the midst of a four-game winning streak, confidence is going up for the Greyhounds.
“Confidence is 90 per cent of the battle,” Dean said. “Guys are starting to feel confident and you’re really starting to see the Soo Greyhounds style. Sometimes with a young team, our style takes a little bit to get used to. After what we’ve gone through, I’m hesitant to say we’ve turned the corner, but I like what I’m seeing.”
Sudbury coach Cory Stillman called the start to the game the difference.
“You can’t continue to win coming from behind,” Stillman said. “We’ve done it a couple of times and eventually your luck runs out.”
The Wolves played the game without some key veterans, including sophomore forward Quinton Byfield, who is currently competing for a spot on the Canadian National Junior Team. Stillman said that not having a player like Byfield in the lineup means an opportunity for the Wolves to “find out who we are.”
“He is a difference-maker, but we still have other older guys that have to step up and play,” Stillman said. “We had three older guys out of the lineup tonight so young guys were having an opportunity to play.
Goals in the opening period by Cole MacKay, Jaromir Pytlik, and Zack Trott staked the Greyhounds to the early lead and it was too much to overcome for the Wolves.
MacKay finished the night with a pair of goals and assisted on another. Rory Kerins added a goal and an assist for the locals while Jaden Peca had the other Sault goal.
Defenceman Billy Constantinou continued a solid stretch offensively for the Greyhounds with three assists, giving him 12 assists in his last eight games.
Goaltender Bailey Brkin made 27 saves for the Greyhounds.
“Bailey was great when we needed him to be,” Dean said. “It’s nice when you post your goaltender a lead like that. It gives him some confidence to fee like he doesn’t have to make every single perfect save. When Bailey is playing with confidence, it’s pretty clear that he’s a pretty darn good goaltender.”
David Levin had a pair of goals for the Wolves.
Peter Stratis also scored.
Sudbury goaltender Christian Purboo made 34 saves.
For the Greyhounds, there were parts of the game that Dean wasn’t pleased with.
“In the second period, I didn’t like our penalty trouble,” Dean said. “We didn’t keep our sticks to ourselves and we deserved every penalty we got. It gave them a little bit of momentum, but I was still happy.
“I was hoping we could learn a lesson from Mississauga,” Dean added. “We let a team back into (the game) that we didn’t need to let back into it. When a team like ours finds success and builds a significant lead, our guys tend to deviate from the game plan, thinking if they do a little extra themselves, they might get their points and that’s not what we want to be about.”
The Greyhounds will take a record of 14-15-2-0 into action this weekend at home. The team is set to host the Owen Sound Attack on Friday night in a 7:07 p.m. start at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
Wednesday’s win moves the Greyhounds into a tie for eighth in the OHL’s Western Conference standings with the Erie Otters, who will be in town for Sunday’s homestand finale.
The Greyhounds also sit one point behind Owen Sound and two points behind the Kitchener Rangers in the Western Conference.
The Wolves, who sit atop the Central Division standings, fall to 18-12-1-0 with the loss.