The message was pretty simple heading in.
As the Ontario Hockey League regular season wrapped up for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon, it was all about sticking to the structure as the team skated to a 5-2 victory over the Saginaw Spirit at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
“Our last three games could have been very easy to mail it in,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “Our guys really pushed to get into playoff form and we were rewarded with six points.”
“It could have been easy to put in an average effort, knowing that the results didn’t matter in the standings,” Dean also said.
With both teams having sealed their respective spots heading into the playoffs, the game had little meaning to either team but that didn’t change the approach for the Greyhounds.
“We told them that we had to make a decision to make sure that we stay structured,” Dean said. “It was about staying structured and staying focused and still play our style of game. We prepared for this game like we prepared for every other game all year.”
The Greyhounds finish the regular season with a 44-16-7-1 record and head into the playoffs as the third seed in the OHL’s Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Spirit will carry a 45-16-3-3 record into the playoffs as the second seed in the west.
After a loss on Saturday night at home against London that clinched the Western Conference title for the Knights over Saginaw, Spirit coach Chris Lazary said much of the focus on Sunday was getting through the game injury-free.
“The Sault came out and played really well today and we did not, but our biggest thing was getting through the game injury-free,” Lazary said.
“It was like a game seven mentality all day (on Saturday),” Lazary said. “It almost felt like if you win the game you were winning the whole thing, even though you weren’t. It was an emotional letdown.”
Zack Trott paced the Greyhounds with a pair of goals and an assist.
Tye Kartye, Drew Wawrow, and Jordan Sambrook also scored for the Greyhounds while Jaromir Pytlik and Cole MacKay assisted on a pair of goals each.
Rookie goaltender Ethan Taylor made 29 saves for the Greyhounds.
Albert Michnac had a goal and an assist for Saginaw while Sault product Camaryn Baber had the other Saginaw goal.
Rookie goaltender Tristan Lennox made 47 saves for the Spirit.
“He was phenomenal,” Lazary said. “He battled and he kept it respectable for us.”
Veteran goaltender Matthew Villalta and team captain Barrett Hayton sat out Sunday’s game. Both were out of the lineup strictly to rest.
The Greyhounds will open up playoff action on Thursday night at home against the sixth-seeded Owen Sound Attack. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 7:07 p.m.
Game two is Saturday, also at the Gardens, before the series shifts to Owen Sound for games three and four.
In other action around the OHL on Sunday, in Mississauga, Cole Schwindt scored at 18:04 of the third period to give the Mississauga Steelheads a 5-4 win over the Barrie Colts. After falling behind 4-1, the Steelheads scored four times in the final 6:10 of regulation time to pick up the win. Schwindt had two goals and two assists for the Steelheads.
In North Bay, Bradey Johnson had a pair of goals as the Niagara IceDogs beat the North Bay Battalion 8-3. Jason Robertson had a goal and three assists for the IceDogs. Justin Brazeau had a goal and two assists for North Bay.
In Ottawa, Austen Keating assisted on five goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Kingston Frontenacs 8-3. Sasha Chmelevski scored three times while Tye Felhaber and Graeme Clarke added a goal and two assists each for Ottawa.
In Sarnia, Calvin Martin, Hugo Leufvenius, and Anthony Tabak had a goal and an assist each as the Sarnia Sting beat the Flint Firebirds 6-3.
In Oshawa, Allan McShane had two goals and three assists as the Oshawa Generals beat the Sudbury Wolves 8-2. Brandon Saigeon assisted on four Oshawa goals while Serron Noel had two goals and an assist. Brett Neumann also had a pair of goals for the Generals.