Greyhounds secure ‘playoff-style’ victory
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Never at a loss for words on the ice, Justin Cloutier took a similar approach into the Soo Greyhounds dressing room on Friday.
So excited by what he had just witnessed, the Ottawa native offered a proclamation of sorts.
“We’re ready for playoffs,” said Cloutier, following the Hounds fast-paced, physical, 3-1 victory over Guelph in front of 3,917 at GFL Memorial Gardens. “That felt like a playoff game and I think it showed we’re ready for playoffs. Every single guy in the room was ready for war tonight.”
Teammate Caeden Carlisle spoke of how the game provided a “definite playoff feel.”
The veteran defenceman, who scored the game-winning goal, also talked of how the Greyhounds had energy from start to finish.
“We competed hard and we played with intensity,” added the Mississauga native, whose club was outshot 24-22. “And when they had a pushback, we didn’t break.”
Despite defeating Sudbury 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday, the Hounds surely didn’t turn in a solid, consistent performance.
However, 48 hours later, they found a way to turn John Dean’s frown upside down.
“I loved every piece of that game,” gushed the Hounds head coach, whose club improved to 41-16-3-1, but failed to gain ground of any of its Western Conference rivals.
Saginaw (45-15-1-1) stopped Kingston 7-2, London (44-14-1-3) defeated Sarnia 6-1 and Kitchener (40-20-2-0) was a 9-5 winner over Flint.
The Spirit and Knights continue to lead the conference standings with 92 points each. Both have six regular season games remaining.
The Hounds are six points back with seven left to play while Kitchener sits in fourth place, four points behind the Soo with six games remaining.
“Tonight felt like a gritty, playoff-style game,” added Dean, whose club entertains Windsor on Saturday (7:07 p.m.). “Every single guy on our team gave their heart and soul as far as I’m concerned. The effort was exceptional.”
The Soo coach also talked about challenging his players, telling them the Sudbury game “has to be a hiccup.”
Dean went on to call the defensive-minded Storm (28-26-5-1) a very good opponent.
But against Guelph, the coach liked how his charges won 50-50 battles, recovered very quickly after mistakes and “gave up maybe two odd-man rushes all night. And in our D-zone coverage, guys were blocking shots.”
Cloutier said he was impressed by the way in which he and his teammates did a lot of little things well.
After a scoreless first period in which the Hounds outshot their rivals 6-2, Jack Beck broke the seal at 11:48 of the middle frame.
Beck took a beautiful stretch pass from Gavin Hayes, skated in alone and beat Storm netminder Brayden Gillespie through the five-hole for his 23rd goal.
In the third period, Carlisle stepped in from the left point and, through traffic, beat Gillespie high to the stick side.
That made it 2-0 at 4:28.
Cloutier, who assisted on Carlisle’s goal, beat his man to the net and banged in his own rebound nine minutes later. That gave the home side a three-goal advantage.
For the veteran winger, that’s three straight games with a goal.
With Brodie McConnell-Barker serving a double-minor for high-sticking, Guelph’s Charlie Paquette broke Charlie Schenkel’s shutout bid with a power-play marker at 15:23.
Gillespie was on the bench at that time in favour of a sixth attacker.
Christopher Brown finished with a pair of assists for the winners and drew Dean’s praise for driving play and for his “willingness to be on top of pucks.”
Despite the loss, Storm bench boss Chad Wiseman found a lot of positives worth celebrating.
“I loved our attention to detail in the D zone. I thought we defended incredibly well,” he said. “We blocked a lot of shots and kept pucks to the perimeter. The effort was there.”
Dean described what he saw from his charges at the end of the night.
“You go in the room afterwards and the excitement level on the team is very high,” the coach noted. “And the reason it’s high is that the guys know they left it all out there. That’s the best feeling in the world for a hockey player. I’m not saying we are where we need to be, but we’re very close.”
Notes:
The Hounds were minus forwards Owen Allard, Travis Hayes and Marco Mignosa on Friday. All are out with upper-body injuries.
Dean said Mignosa and Allard could play on Saturday.
Rotary’s annual Battle of the Sections is set for Saturday when the Soo plays Windsor. Rotarians and volunteers will pass buckets around the Gardens, collecting donations to be used in Rotary’s work with youth in the community.
The section with the highest amount collected per person will receive a prize donated by Final Touch Property Management.
