Hounds can’t overcome ‘ghastly mistakes’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Trying to climb out of a 4-1 hole, against a good defensive team, is almost never a recipe for success.
Just ask the Soo Greyhounds.
Although they pushed hard in an impressive third period, and scored twice to make things interesting on Saturday, the Hounds fell 4-3 to the London Knights in front of 4,530 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“All four goals against were the result of ghastly mistakes,” said head coach John Dean, whose club continues its Jekyll-and-Hyde season of flourishing on the road and sometimes floundering at home.
The Hounds are a sparkling 9-3-0-1 on the road, but they’ve lost five of their last six when skating at home.
“That can’t happen,” Dean said of his club’s miscues. “You can’t put yourself in a hole like that against that team.”
“A 4-1 hole isn’t ideal,” added winger Marco Mignosa. “We had a tough first period. That played a big role in the game.”
Centre Quinn McKenzie, who turned in a strong game, could only shake his head.
“We made a couple of mistakes,” McKenzie said of the opening frame, one in which the Knights opened a 2-1 lead. “Overall, we have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot early here. I feel like every home game we’re in the same position, trying to come back in the third.”
On a night when the Hounds fell to 14-9-1-1, McKenzie spoke of how the Soo is a “great third period team,” before adding how he and his teammates can’t rely on that.
Dean liked his team’s second and third period efforts against a team playing its third game in as many nights.
“That’s also a very good team, very well-coached that is extremely motivated and angry after losing two straight (on the road),” he said of the Knights. “They looked like they were tiring out in the third and we started to capitalize. But too little, too late.”
The Hounds played minus centre Brady Martin, who was held out for precautionary reasons due to a possible upper-body injury.
The Soo opened the scoring 7:15 in when Brodie McConnell-Barker found Jeremy Martin alone at the side of the London goal. His one-timer beat Aleksei Medvedev on the glove side.
But with the Soo struggling in its own zone, failing to clear pucks and win one-on-one battles, London scored two straight before the period ended.
In an attempt to relieve pressure, Chase Reid lifted the puck, but it was intercepted by Ben Wilmott just inside the Soo blue-line. He skated in on the right side and his backhand shot beat Landon Miller high to the blocker side.
That tied the game at 14:16.
Less than four-minutes later, the Hounds failed to track well and a patient Evan Van Gorp pulled up at the right dot. He found the trailer, Braiden Clark, who had beaten his man to the front of the goal. Clark scored on the stick side to make it 2-1.
Medvedev was impressive in the middle stanza, making several saves in tight.
At 12:44 on the power play, the visitors made it 3-1 when bad luck bit the Hounds.
Jordan Charron’s clearing attempt hit Chris Brown and the puck stayed in the Soo zone. Moments later, Sam O’Reilly made a move around one defender and fed Braidy Wassilyn, who was alone at the side of the Soo goal.
He gave the Knights a two-goal advantage.
That grew early in the third when London transitioned quickly after the Hounds missed a glorious scoring chance.
On a 2-on-1, Wilmott fed Van Gorp, whose shot squeaked by Miller on the blocker side.
That gave London a 4-1 lead at 1:44.
However, less than two minutes later, Medvedev misplayed Mignosa’s shot from the right circle. The overage’s 10th goal made it 4-2.
Six minutes later, Reid used his speed following a feed by Martin. The defenceman cut in and beat Medvedev in tight at 9:40.
On a night when the Hounds held a 24-19 edge in shots, including 10-2 in the third period, Mignosa had a glorious chance on a rebound attempt. But he hit the post with 30 seconds remaining.
“Our kids played hard and it’s always good to win on the road,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter, whose team had lost in both North Bay and Sudbury to begin this three-game trip. “We were opportunistic.”
With the victory, London, a 3-2 shootout winner over the Soo last Sunday in London, improved to 14-7-3-0.
Blowing a chance to gain a measure of revenge made this loss sting, said Mignosa.
“It’s tough to lose to them again. It’s frustrating,” he said.
“Our first period was difficult,” added Dean, disappointed his team wasn’t able to take advantage of London’s schedule.
The Hounds return to action Friday in Sarnia.
Notes:
Reid is set to leave Sunday for the two-day, CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. Some of the top prospects heading into the 2026 NHL Entry Draft will compete.
Game 1 is set for Tuesday in Calgary, while Game 2 goes the following night in Lethbridge.
