Hounds display ‘character in spades’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) |Photo Courtesy of Logan Taylor/Brantford Bulldogs @logantaylorphoto
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
There was no doubt how John Dean felt on Sunday.
Despite coming out of the short end of a 3-2 shootout in front of 3,207 at TD Civic Centre in Brantford, the Soo Greyhounds head coach agreed his short-staffed club had earned a moral victory.
“Oh yeah, in a big way,” said Dean, whose club competed hard – and got great goaltending from Carter George –while facing the top team in the OHL’s overall standings. “Our guys showed character in spades, the ability to follow a game plan and the ability to put immense pressure on our opponent despite being short-staffed.”
The shootout ended when Marco Mignosa became the third Greyhound to be turned aside by Bulldogs netminder Ryerson Leenders. That made Adam Benak, who went high glove side on George in the previous shootout attempt, the hero for the winners, who improved to 34-7-6-1.
But it took none of the self-respect away from the Greyhounds, who entered the game minus centres Brady Martin (shoulder) and Quinn McKenzie (undisclosed lower-body injury), and defencemen Jakub Winkelhofer (lower body) and Spencer Evans (Game 2 of a three-game league suspension).
As well, star rearguard Chase Reid missed the second half of the game after suffering an upper-body injury midway through the middle frame.
“For us to do what we did today is something we can be proud of,” said star defenceman Lukas Fischer, who logged an inordinate amount of ice time and ripped home the tying goal with 8:08 left in regulation.
“We bent but didn’t break,” added Dean, whose club fell to 29-15-1-3, heading into Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. start in Saginaw.
The Hounds began the trip losing 6-3 to Niagara on Thursday, before dropping a 3-2 shootout decision one night later in Erie.
But, “I’m so proud to be behind the bench with this group today,” the coach continued. “And we’ll use this as a blueprint moving forward for effort, compete, intensity and being difficult to play against.”
“With the way the first two games of the trip went, we put extra pressure on ourselves to play well today,” said Fischer, whose club relied more-heavily on George in the third period when the home side held a 17-7 edge in shots. Overall, the Bulldogs outshot the Soo 40-29.
With the score tied 2-2, George turned back Benak on the doorstep with 1:26 left in regulation. The veteran goalie stopped a driving Caleb Malhotra 30 seconds later, before making back-to-back clutch saves on Jake O’Brien in front in the final seconds.
“We’re under immense pressure in the third and Carter stands on his head, quite honestly,” Dean said. “And that takes nothing away from his first 40 minutes. He was excellent. But that’s one of the finer performances I’ve seen in the third period.”
“He’s the best player in the league,” offered Fischer. “If there’s one guy I would put all my money on, it’s that guy. He’s unbelievable and he kept us in that game today. And he’s an even better person. He’s helped our locker room a ton.”
George spoke of how the Greyhounds left the ice on Sunday with a lot of positives.
“We’re so shorthanded right now, I’m just proud of this group,” he added. “That’s each and every guy who played today.”
Acquired from Owen Sound before the trade deadline, George called the Hounds a championship-caliber team.
“We want to get better every game,” the netminder added. “If we continue to do that, we’ll be peaking come playoff time.”
Trailing 2-1 in the third, from the corner Colin Fitzgerald found Fischer inside the right point. The defenceman skated into the circle and unleashed a shot that beat Leenders on the blocker side. That goal, at 11:52, came three minutes after Charlie Paquette had given the home side the lead.
Paquette drove down the left wing, cut inside and slid the puck past George on the glove side.
On the powerplay, Benak opened the scoring just 3:20 in after Malhotra hit the cross-bar from the slot. From the left side of the net, Benak deposited the rebound on the stick side.
The Greyhounds tied the game just over eight minutes later. Leenders had lost his stick when Marco Mignosa’s slick feed found Jeremy Martin alone in front. That made it 1-1.
Neither team could score in the second period.
In overtime, Leenders made a big save, thwarting Travis Hayes on a 2-on-1 with 1:30 to go in the extra frame.
Meantime, Reid said he was injured during a collision with a Brantford player while trying to box his man out in front of the Soo goal. Dean said he has no idea about the severity of the upper-body injury, adding the club would know more on Monday after Reid sees a doctor in the Sault.
Dean also revealed McKenzie had been playing injured the last couple of weeks and exacerbated the injury on this trip.
“Considering the adversity, I think we can play with them,” Dean said of the Bulldogs, who improved to an OHL-best 34-7-6-1. “We leave that game with a tremendous amount of confidence that we’re one of the best teams in the league.”
Following the Saginaw clash, the Soo returns home for two critical games this week against the clubs they are chasing in the West Division and Western Conference. Flint provides Friday’s opposition (7:07 p.m.) before Windsor takes on the Greyhounds Sunday (2:07 p.m.).
