With key players out of the lineup due to injury, they’re not making any excuses.
A three-game road trip didn’t get any easier with additional injuries coming out of the Soo Greyhounds loss in St. Catharines on Thursday night.
With players seeing more minutes than they might be used to, it’s no secret they want to be better.
Working hard wasn’t enough as the Greyhounds dropped a 6-3 decision to the Erie Otters Friday in Ontario Hockey League play at Erie Insurance Arena.
“I wouldn’t say we played a bad game, but we’ve got a lot better,” forward Tate Vader said.
“They’re a really good rush team and off the rush, we could have done a lot better (defending),” Vader also said.
Vader agreed that, despite the result and being short some key players, the Greyhounds work ethic wasn’t an issue in the game.
“That’s part of our identity,” Vader said. “We give it everything we’ve got every game. We brought that for sure.”
Greyhounds coach John Dean said he felt the Greyhounds battled in the loss, but there was also some sloppiness to their game.
“This is an opportunity for guys to assess where they’re at in their seasons and where they’re at in their development,” Dean said. “Lots of guys got more minutes than they normally would and were their minutes impactful enough? Some guys rose to the occasion and some guys struggled a bit.”
Dean credited players like Vader and rookie defenceman Hunter Solomon for their efforts in the game.
“It’s easy to see the guys that are progressing the right way,” Dean said. “It’s very obvious to the plain eye and those two guys stood out for me tonight.”
With that, Dean said it wasn’t a complete effort from the full roster in the loss.
“I don’t feel like we had a 20-guy effort tonight,” Dean said. “Some guys had off nights tonight and when you’re short-staffed, you certainly can’t have guys having off nights.”
The Greyhounds opened the scoring 1:41 into the game as Sam Bowness grabbed a turnover by an Erie defenceman off a faceoff and beat Otters goaltender Charlie Burns from in close.
The Greyhounds remained up by a goal into the second period until the Otters scored on the tail end of a power play. Defenceman Matthew Schaefer skated into the Sault zone and began cutting into the slot before beating Sault goaltender Charlie Schenkel 5-hole 2:28 into the middle stanza.
The Greyhounds retook the lead when Justin Cloutier went to the net and redirected a pass from Brady Martin past Burns at 5:19. The pass from Martin came just as the second year forward took a hit from a pair of Erie defenders at the edge of the left faceoff circle.
Erie tied the game again as veteran forward Pano Fimis beat Schenkel with a deke on a shorthanded breakaway at 9:24. Fimis took a pass from Nathan Sauder on the play after a turnover in the offensive zone by the Greyhounds to start the play.
With the game tied at two in the early stages of the third period, Callum Hughes gave Erie a 3-2 lead as took a feed in the slot from Alexis Daviault down low after the latter had circled the net. The goal, which came 1:56 into the frame, was initially reviewed for goaltender interference but not overturned.
Dean agreed he thought there was contact on the goal.
“Those calls are difficult,” Dean said.
“There’s such a grey area there,” Dean added, saying that the explanation he received was that Erie forward Brett Hammond was pushed into Schenkel on the play.
Erie got what was the eventual game winner as Schaefer got his second of the night as he took a shot from the left wing that deflected off a Greyhounds player on the way to the net and found a way past Schenkel at 7:47.
The Greyhounds pulled back to within one at 11:53 as the Otters turned the puck over in the Sault zone and eventually Justin Cloutier beat Burns with a shot stick side from the high slot on the power play to make it a 4-3 game.
The Otters proceeded to seal the win with a pair of empty net goals in the final minutes of regulation time off the sticks of Carey Terrance and Gabriel Frasca.
Schenkel made 39 saves for the Greyhounds in the loss.
At the other end, Burns turned aside 23 shots for Erie.
In addition to the two-goal night from Schaefer, Hughes and Terrance had a goal and an assist each while Sam Alfano assisted on two goals.
The Greyhounds will wrap up their current three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in Brampton against the Steelheads, entering the game with a 12-11-0-0 record.
Erie improves to 13-6-2-1 with Friday’s victory.
Notes: With Owen Allard and Keegan Gillen already out of the lineup – Allard due to injury and Gillen due to illness – the Greyhounds played Friday’s game minus Andrew Gibson, Christopher Brown, and Noel Nordh, all due to injury.
All three players were hurt Thursday night in St. Catharines.
Dean said he doesn’t expect any players to return from injury in Sunday’s game.
The Otters had a new face in the lineup that wasn’t with the team last week when the team dropped an overtime decision in the Sault. Hughes, who had been playing in the British Columbia Hockey League, signed with the team and got into his first game on Friday.
Hughes has a commitment to play NCAA hockey at Boston University.