Proud Greyhounds celebrate impressive win
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Superb penalty-killing, two power-play goals and timely saves on Sunday sparked the Soo Greyhounds to one of their most-significant victories of the OHL season.
The Hounds scored five unanswered goals and snapped the London Knights nine-game winning streak, defeating the visitors 6-3 before 3,664 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“For sure, it’s the proudest I’ve been of this team this season,” captain Bryce McConnell-Barker, who had a goal and three assists, said over the din in a noisy Hounds dressing room. “To get this win and the way in which we won it, it’s really big for our group.”
“This was one of our best games this season,” added centre Mark Duarte, whose power-play goal at 6:25 of the third period stood up as the winner. “This is a big turning point for our team.”
Locked in a battle for their playoff lives in the Western Conference, the Hounds certainly hope so. While improving to 12-14-7-4, the Soo is tied with Guelph (15-18-4-1) for seventh place. The Hounds also have a game in hand.
“Facing the top team in the conference, our guys go out and play a great game,” said head coach John Dean, whose club out-worked a London club playing its third game in as many days. “I think this is a great game for us to look back on and realize we can beat any team in the league. We have to stop giving so much respect to other teams.”
Penalty-killing proved critical late in the second period as the home side killed off a double minor and a 5-on-3 for 54 seconds.
With the score tied 3-3, Marco Mignosa was handed four minutes for high-sticking at 14:46, before Andrew Gibson was tagged with an interference minor at 17:52.
Samuel Ivanov flashed his glove while making key saves on Ryan Winterton and Ruslan Gazizov.
“Sammy was fantastic on the PK,” offered Dean.
Getting through that stretch unscathed was a “momentum booster for sure,” said McConnell-Barker.
“We went out and killed what we thought was an unjust 5-on-3 against,” added Dean, whose club wound up outshooting the visitors 34-24. “That created huge momentum for our team. It could have been a really difficult spot for us, but special teams were definitely the difference today.”
On a power play early in the third, Kalvyn Watson’s feed from the left corner was quickly buried by Duarte, whose one-timer past Brett Brochu made it 4-3.
Seven minutes later, at 13:59, Watson motored down the right wing and barely got the puck past Brochu, who came out of his net to clear it. The Hounds overage retrieved the disc and notched his 17th of the season to increase the home team’s lead to two goals.
“Watson’s goal sums up the day,” said Dean, who spoke of the importance of hard work and intensity. “That was a good third period for us under pressure.”
McConnell-Barker capped the scoring with an empty-netter at 17:10.
“We’ve been focused on playing a full 60 and today we did just that,” said centre Jordan D’Intino, who contributed a pair of key goals, 3:35 apart in the second period. “It was one of the best games we’ve played this season.”
D’Intino’s first goal, a short-handed marker, made it 3-2 at 10:43. Alex Kostov made a slick feed to set it up.
The London, Ont., native tied the game by scoring on the power play, banging home the rebound of a Duarte shot for his 15th of the season.
Landen Hookey had the other goal for the winners, who are slated to begin a three-game trip on Thursday (7 p.m.) in North Bay. Both Duarte and Watson finished with a goal and an assist while Kirill Kudryavtsev contributed a pair of assists.
Max McCue, shorthanded, Oliver Bonk, on the finishing end of a 4-on-2, and Mathieu Paris scored for the Knights, who fell to 26-9-1-0. Sean McGurn finished with a pair of assists.
“I thought we were a little slow, a little fatigued mentally,” said Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter. “I thought (the Soo) skated really well and pressured really well.”
