Mignosa: ‘Unbelievable to lose that game’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Nick Oreskovic
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
Hard to explain in the playoffs?
Certainly.
Hard to swallow in the playoffs?
Definitely.
The Soo Greyhounds blew a one-goal lead twice in the third period on Sunday, while surrendering four unanswered goals – including two empty-netters.
The result was an 8-5 loss to the Kitchener Rangers in front of 6,821 at the Aud, and a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinal.
“Obviously, this is super frustrating. Stupid plays ended up in the back of our net,” said overage winger Marco Mignosa, who led the Soo with two goals and two assists. “We had two, one-goal leads in the third period. It was unbelievable to lose that game.”
“This was a pretty-disappointing loss,” added winger Jeremy Martin, who scored twice for the visitors. “We can’t be giving up too many chances. We have to protect the front of the net.”
After letting leads of 4-3 and 5-4 get away, Martin spoke of how he and his teammates weren’t on point as much as they needed to be.
“We have to be more detailed when it comes to closing games out,” he added.
When protecting leads in the final frame “you need to manage pucks, you need to get pucks out at your blue-line, get pucks behind their D and play at the top of the circles down,” said head coach John Dean, whose team is coming home to GFL Memorial Gardens for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday (both begin at 7:07 p.m.). “We didn’t do that tonight and that’s what cost us.”
Meantime, Rangers head coach Jussi Ahokas spoke of how proud he was of his team’s performance over the final 20 minutes.
“In the third period, our guys showed a lot of determination,” Ahokas said during the postgame show on the Rangers TV broadcast. “They showed what they’re made of.”
After the Soo rallied from a 3-1 deficit, the clubs entered the third period in a 3-3 tie.
But just 53-seconds in, Mignosa found Quinn McKenzie in front for a tap-in, power-play tally.
But at 3:20, the home side tied it 4-4 on the powerplay when Dylan Edwards beat Carter George high to the blocker side from the right dot.
However, the Greyhounds retook the lead at 5:13 following a Jared Woolley turnover. Martin snapped home his second of the night, putting it past Christian Kirsch high on the blocker side to give the Soo a 5-4 lead.
Three minutes after that, Cameron Reid backhanded the puck from behind the Soo net and Tanner Lam went high blocker from the right circle to tie the contest.
Just over five-minutes later, the Rangers moved the puck as if it was on a string. From along the left-wing boards, Sam O’Reilly fed Woolley, who was the trailer on a rush. The defenceman sent the puck to Jack Pridham at the left side of the goal, and he went backdoor to Edwards, who was alone on the right side of the net. George had no chance and the home team led for good, 6-5.
O’Reilly, who finished with three goals on the night, added a pair of late, empty-netters. The first was a short-handed tally.
The Rangers were 2-for-2 with the man advantage, while the Hounds were 1-for-6.
Asked about his powerplay, Dean agreed the Soo would have liked more production on Sunday.
“But at the same time, when you score five goals, if you play the right way, that shouldn’t have mattered,” he said.
While George made some big stops, the coach was asked if the Hounds could have stood an extra save or two.
“That’s a question for him, more than me,” Dean answered. “But he made some huge saves to give us an opportunity to tie the game.”
Edwards contributed a pair of goals for the winners, who outshot the Soo 38-31. Christian Humphreys, who also notched an assist, and Avry Anstis had the other goals. Pridham and Reid contributed three assists each while Woolley had a pair.
“We’re disappointed in the loss, but there still remains a clear formula if 20 guys are on board to do it for 60 minutes,” Dean said.
His message for Game 3?
“Let’s play with some desperation, play the right way consistently and manage the puck consistently,” the coach answered.
“It’s brutal talking about this loss,” said Mignosa. “But at the same time, it’s not the end of the world. We have to win Game 3, but we’re going home and we’ll have a good crowd. We have to wipe this one and be ready to play.”
Notes:
Overage Justin Cloutier, who missed Game 1 for precautionary reasons related to the E. coli infection he battled through in the fall, returned on Sunday.
Centre Chris Brown (day-to-day with an upper-body injury) missed his second straight game.
According to sources, the Rangers plan to fly to the Sault for Games 3-4. That would allow them to fly home following the fourth game if a fifth contest is needed. Game 5 would be played on Friday in Kitchener, 24 hours after Game 4.
The Hounds say their trip plans for a possible Game 5 have yet to be finalized.
