Dean calls third period goals ‘unacceptable’
By Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
A year that provided numerous success stories ended on a sour note Sunday for the Soo Greyhounds.
In the final game of 2023, Michael Misa’s two-goal effort helped power the Saginaw Spirit to an entertaining 4-3 victory over the Hounds in front of 4,531 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Having dropped a 5-1 decision to Sudbury the previous day, Sunday’s setback marked the first time the Hounds have lost two straight in regulation since late October.
Third period goals by Misa and Ethan Hay put the visitors ahead to stay as the battle for top spot in the OHL’s West Division tightened.
“Those two goals in the third are unacceptable,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose team fell to 23-10-2-1, four points head of the Spirit (22-10-0-1), but the Michigan club also has three games in hand. “The third period started off with a really-poor mistake on the back end.”
“Some mental lapses cost us,” added winger Jack Beck, who scored twice and was easily the Soo’s best player. “You make a mistake and good teams find a way to score.”
Tied 2-2 entering the final frame, the Spirit needed just 24 seconds to take the lead. Charlie Schenkel made a huge save on Dean Loukas in front, but Loukas hunted down the rebound, spun and fed Misa alone in front. He banged home his 17th of the season to make it 3-2.
Ten minutes later, Saginaw’s Sebastien Gervais out-raced Matt Virgilio for the puck and fed a wide-open Hay, who was the trailer, in front of the net.
Hay went five-hole on Schenkel at 10:42 and the visitors opened a 4-2 advantage.
It was a lead they never relinquished. Road teams have won all five of the games between the Soo and Saginaw this season, with the Greyhounds having prevailed three times.
“It felt like a playoff game,” said Hounds defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev. “We made some unnecessary plays that cost us, but it was a very good game by both teams.”
Having beaten Windsor 5-4 in overtime at home on Saturday night, Saginaw’s team bus arrived here at about 3 a.m. Sunday.
Due to the travel “we didn’t know what we were going to look like,” said Spirit head coach Chris Lazary, whose club was outshot 26-24.
But while he spoke of how every OHL team goes through the road grind, Lazary also praised his players, noting how “there’s a lot of jam in this group. They care. They’ve got a lot of heart. For sure, we’re super proud of our guys.”
Dean, whose club led 1-0 after 20 minutes, talked about how Saginaw won the 50-50 puck battles.
“I thought we gave them too much (offensive) zone time and there’s another game where we lost the special teams battle,” the coach added.
The Hounds were 0-for-2 with the man advantage while Saginaw connected on its only power-play opportunity.
The Soo has yet to score a man-advantage goal against Saginaw over the five, head-to-head games. The Spirit has killed off 25 consecutive Hounds’ powerplays.
Trailing 4-2 and with Schenkel seated in favour of a sixth attacker, the Hounds pushed hard to tie the game.
Beck skated into the slot and beat Andrew Oke high to the glove side with 3:52 left in regulation. The Spirit was forced to defend the rest of the way, but managed to hang on for the victory.
“I loved our late push and the way we played with our net empty,” Dean said.
The coach also had praise for the line of Brady Martin between Travis Hayes and Alex Kostov.
“They were the heartbeat of our team today,” Dean noted.
Marco Mignosa, with his 16thof the season, had the other Hounds goal.
Misa, who was all alone in front, banged home a rebound to tie the game early in the second period.
Gervais, on a one-timer, scored a power-play goal to give Saginaw a 2-1 lead at 8:14 of the second.
Just 22 seconds later, Beck tied the score, following up a Jordan D’Intino shot.
Gervais finished with a goal and an assist in defeat while Loukas contributed three assists.
The Hounds are slated to hit the road on Tuesday for Wednesday’s start of a three-game trip in Oshawa. The Soo is also scheduled to visit Guelph on Friday and Barrie on Saturday.
