Dean lauds Soo’s PP and PK
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Natalie Shaver (OHLImages)
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | FULL PHOTO GALLERY (to be posted Sunday)
They weren’t just special.
They were exceptional.
Head coach John Dean offered a third word: “Phenomenal.”
Special teams absolutely carried the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday, powering the club to a 4-0 victory over the Flint Firebirds in front of 3,525 at Dort Financial Center.
On a night when Charlie Schenkel posted his fifth career shutout, three power-play goals – on just three opportunities – and one short-handed tally had the coach and players smiling.
“Our special teams were fantastic. They won us the game,” said winger Marco Mignosa, who scored shorthanded and assisted on all three power-play markers. “We had a tough night in London on Friday as the power play lost us the game. We wanted to pay our team back.”
“I thought we were great,” added centre Owen Allard, who contributed a goal and two assists. “We lost the special teams battle in London and so we had lots of motivation coming into this game. We really dialed it in tonight. We were sharp and it showed.”
The Hounds blew a big opportunity late in London. In what would be a 4-3 loss, they had a power-play opportunity with 3:59 left in regulation and failed to register a single shot.
The Soo entered the Flint game just 4-for-47 on the powerplay this season.
“Special teams were challenged in our pre-game meetings. A clear message was sent,” said Dean, whose team improved to 9-6-0-0 on Saturday, winning two of three on a road trip that began with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday in Windsor. “We thought special teams lost us a game in London, but they won us a game tonight.”
“We kind of got ripped,” Allard said of what the players faced from Dean and assistant coach Daniel Nikandrov. “They were obviously constructive, but they were critical, too.”
While the Hounds penalty-killers provided a threat Flint skaters were forced to respect, the powerplay went into attack mode, Dean said.
The coach spoke of how, once his players got into their sets “we looked a lot more composed and we attacked space, instead of playing timid.”
Dean also praised Nikandrov, saying the first-year assistant deserves all of the credit for Saturday’s success.
“He’s done a great job holding our guys to a standard and challenging them when they’ve needed it,” the coach offered. “But he’s also helped them maintain belief in themselves.”
As for Schenkel, the Ottawa native was flawless.
“I feel like in the first period I was a little rusty early,” said Schenkel, whose club will have a chance to gain revenge next week when London visits GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday (7:07 p.m.). “It took me a couple of minutes to get it back. But I feel as if I got better and better as the game went on.”
After an outstanding start to his season, Schenkel’s last appearance was Oct. 23 against Saginaw. A minor injury and the fact the Hounds wanted to help Landon Miller regain his confidence – which he apparently has – has kept the veteran on the sidelines.
Asked how difficult not playing has been, Schenkel spoke of how “all I can do is be the man and the goalie I want to be. I want to be a good teammate when I’m not playing.”
Along with Mignosa and Allard, Noel Nordh scored once and set up another as the Hounds made it six wins in their last seven tries. They’ve defeated Flint twice this season.
This setback dropped the Firebirds to 6-7-0-1.
The Soo opened the scoring on the man advantage at 16:29 of the first period.
Mignosa fed Nordh who took advantage of Justin Cloutier screening Firebirds netminder Noah Bender. Nordh’s wrist shot, fired from just above the right circle, beat the Flint goalie high to the glove side.
That was Nordh’s second goal, to go along with five assists, in four games since joining the Greyhounds.
With the visitors short a man at the 4:00 mark of the middle stanza, Allard, on the forecheck, stripped the puck from Flint rearguard Matthew Mania.
Bender made a pad save on Allard’s scoring attempt, but Mignosa was there to deposit the rebound on the stick side. That’s the Soo’s fourth short-handed goal this season and, since returning from a non-Covid illness, Mignosa has a 5-6-11 stat line in five games.
After nearly scoring early in the frame, Allard connected with just 5.7 seconds to go in the second period. On the power play, Mignosa found his teammate just above the left circle. Allard made it 3-0 snapping one home on the glove side. In five games since being assigned to the Soo by the Utah Hockey Club, the overage has a 3-4-7 stat line.
Late in the third, Cloutier got in on the power-play party.
Allard fired from the slot and Cloutier banged home the rebound from the left side of the Flint goal. That’s Cloutier’s seventh tally this season.
Though they managed just 13 shots over the first two periods – including no shots in the first 13:30 of the opening frame – the Hounds outshot the home team 10-8 in the third. Flint had an edge in the game, 32-23.
Dean called Saturday’s third period performance “as clean a sheet as you can produce.”
Notes:
With Schenkel back in the lineup, the Hounds sat out overage forward Justin DeZoete. Teams are only allowed to dress three OAs and the Soo went with Schenkel, Allard and Caeden Carlisle.
Dean said sitting out DeZoete “was absolutely gutting” for him as a coach, noting how the Hamilton native embodies the determination the Hounds want to exhibit. “He’s a special kid.”
Centre Brady Martin (upper body injury) was held out as a precautionary measure, Dean added.
