RECAP; Kerins notches clutch OT winner
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media)
Rory Kerins wasted little time in making amends.
One night after committing a costly turnover, the Soo Greyhounds star centre scored Friday’s overtime winner, as the Hounds edged the Kitchener Rangers 4-3 before 4,526 at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
“I wanted to get one back for the boys,” said Kerins, who took a feed from Tye Kartye on a 2-on-1, cut across the ice and beat Rangers netminder Pavel Cajan through the five-hole at 4:44 of the extra frame. “I was happy it went in.”
On Thursday, a Kerins miscue in Windsor allowed the Spitfires’ Louka Henault to skate in on an odd-man rush before firing home the OT winner in a 4-3 setback.
“That bugged me a lot. It’s something I don’t do too often,” Kerins said of the turnover. “I thought about it a lot and when we went to overtime tonight (Friday), I really wanted to get one.”
“He made it pretty clear he wanted that one,” said head coach John Dean, whose club improved to 15-9-2-0, tied with Windsor (14-8-2-2), a 7-5 winner in Saginaw on Friday, for first place in the OHL’s West Division. “Body language, emotions, the way he communicated with me on the bench – it was pretty obvious he was going to go on a mission in overtime.”
The Soo coach also absolved Kerins of some of the blame for Thursday’s mistake, saying he has a tendency to over-play some of his veterans – including the Calgary Flames’ prospect.
“I put him in a tough spot the night before. He was fatigued,” Dean said. “Tonight, he found a way and I give him a lot of credit.”
The goal for Kerins, who also contributed an assist, was his 14th of the season and fifth game-winner. His stat line entering the Christmas break is an impressive 14-30-44 in 26 games.
But as good as scoring the winner felt on Friday, Kerins said helping the Hounds triumph, while extending their recent streak to 4-0-2-0, is “the most-important part. I don’t care about scoring. I was just really excited to win and celebrate with the boys.”
After what Dean called an “abysmal” start on Thursday in Windsor, the Hounds were determined to come out with much more energy 24 hours later. That’s exactly what they, building a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. On a night when the Rangers held a 42-38 edge in shots, the Soo received another strong start from netminder Tucker Tynan, who won his first game in a Greyhounds uniform.
“Obviously, a good start was a really-big focus for us – especially after last night,” said Kartye, who contributed a goal and an assist, notching his league-leading 23rd tally and running his consecutive games scoring streak to seven straight. “We managed to execute that and I was proud of the boys.”
The fast start on Friday “tells me a lot about our hockey club,” added Dean, whose club is now idle until a Dec. 29 home game against Sudbury. “Our first period was exceptional.”
The coach admitted his team “tailed off as the game went on,” saying the Greyhounds “looked like a tired group. But we found a way to win.”
Asked about Tynan, Dean noted how the veteran netminder has faced an average of more than 40 shots over his three starts since being acquired from Niagara.
“It was a special night by him,” the coach added.
With the visitors leading 3-1, the Rangers chipped away, drawing to within 3-2 when Arber Xhekaj ripped home a power-play goal at 14:45 of the second period. With six attackers, Kitchener tied the contest when Reid Valade redirected a Xhekaj shot past Tynan with 2:21 left in regulation.
First-year players Kirill Kudryavtsev, with a goal and an assist, and Jordan D’Intino, who rounded out the scoring, also turned in strong games for the winners.
Dean praised his first-year players for a “really-gritty effort.”
Roman Schmidt had the other goal for the Rangers, who fell to 12-12-1-0. Mike Petizian was impressive with three assists.
After hitting a Kitchener player, falling and landing awkwardly, Hounds overage winger Cole MacKay was forced to hop off the ice with a little less than five minutes remaining. He didn’t return and Dean confirmed a lower-body injury.
“I think he’ll be fine,” said the coach, who, minutes after the game, explained he had no other information about the extent of the injury.
