Hounds record a W, as PP and PK shine
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Special teams were exactly that – and more – for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday.
The Hounds scored three power-play goals and stung the Sting with two, short-handed tallies. The result was a 7-3 victory over Sarnia in front of 3,640 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Centre Bryce McConnell-Barker scored twice with the man advantage, part of a two-goal, one-assist performance.
“You win the special teams battle and you give yourself a good chance to win any game you play,” said the Soo captain, whose club scored three straight goals, including one on the power play and two shorthanded, to blow open what had been a narrow 4-3 lead in the second period. “Our power play has been clicking lately and we were able to bury a few today. And short-handed goals are definitely special.”
“I’m very happy with our special teams. We’ve been making a concerted effort to try to win that battle,” added head coach John Dean, pleased with the way his team rebounded after blowing a 3-2 lead late in regulation and losing 4-3 in overtime to Oshawa on Friday. “They were the difference in the game today and, as we know, in the playoffs special teams will be very important.”
With the victory, the Soo improved to 39-16-3-1 going into Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. start in Sudbury.
By winning Sunday, the Hounds kept pace with Saginaw (44-15-0-1) in the race for first place in the West Division. The Spirit defeated Guelph 5-2 on Sunday to remain seven points ahead of the Greyhounds. The Soo has nine regular season games remaining while Saginaw has eight left.
“Special teams are the difference in the game most nights,” said Sting head coach Al Letang, whose young club fell to 23-33-3-1. “Our (penalty) kill struggled at times and we knew they pressured, so we had to be able to handle that when on the power play.”
“I thought it was a good bounce-back,” said Dean, looking back at Friday’s disappointing turn of events. “I liked our first period and I’m very happy with the third period. We didn’t dominate, but we didn‘t give up a lot in the third today.”
“I thought we played well, a good 60 minutes,” added McConnell-Barker, who was visibly angry after Friday’s contest.
The London, Ont., native lost a draw to Calum Ritchie to begin overtime before Ritchie skated in and scored the winner at the :07 mark.
“Obviously, I wasn’t happy,” said McConnell-Barker, who admitted he was fired up for Sunday’s clash. “You never want to lose like that – especially in OT. “I was determined to play well today.”
With the Greyhounds up 4-3 in the second period, Brady Martin’s ninth of the season gave the home side some breathing room. The Elmira, Ont., native came down the left wing and sent a high backhand shot towards the net, beating Sarnia netminder Nick Surzycia on the blocker side to make it 5-3 at 10:36.
“To get that goal and reestablish the cushion was really big for us,” said Dean.
Less than four-minutes later, Owen Allard stripped a Sting defender inside the Sarnia blue-line and fed a wide-open Justin Cloutier in front. Skating shorthanded, Cloutier out-waited Surzycia before scoring his 21st of the season on the glove side.
“I was pretty aggressive on the PK,” said Allard. “I had a good track-back and forced the D-man to make a bad play.”
“I didn’t really do much. Allie did all the dirty work,” added Cloutier. “All credit to him for working his rear end off and I guess I got rewarded for it.”
At 19:25, the Soo notched another shorty, this time on a 2-on-1. McConnell-Barker fed Gavin Hayes, who slipped the puck home on the backhand for his 35th. That made it 7-3.
Hayes, Arttu Karki, who snapped an 11-game scoreless skid, and Jacob Frasca, on a beautiful individual effort, all had a goal and an assist for the winners, who held a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Jack Beck added three assists, boosting his team-leading stat line to 22-54-76. Kirill Kudryavtsev had a pair of assists on a day when the home side held a 32-27 edge in shots.
Sault native Tyson Doucette and Carter Kostuch had a goal and an assist each for the Sting. Kostuch’s tally came on the power play as the visitors finished 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
Marko Sikic, short-handed, was the only other Sting player to beat Soo goalie Landon Miller.
Notes:
The Soo played without defenceman Caeden Carlisle, who was serving the first of a two-game suspension handed down by the OHL.
That’s as a result of a five-minute match penalty for cross-checking in Friday’s 4-3 loss to Oshawa. Also missing were wingers Travis Hayes and Marco Mignosa, both out with upper-body injuries.