Hounds ‘didn’t show up’ in loss to Sting
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photos by Natalie Shaver (OHLImages)
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
In just a few short words, rookie forward Noah Laus summed up more than just Monday’s Soo Greyhounds performance.
His analysis could have served as an apt description of this entire road trip.
“We didn’t show up ready to play,” said Laus, whose club again fell behind on Monday, eventually dropping a 6-5 shootout decision to the Sarnia Sting in front of 4,298 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena. “This was very disappointing. Every guy needs to buy in and we all need to work harder.”
“I’m pretty frustrated – the whole team is frustrated,” added overage Marco Mignosa, who notched a goal and four assists in defeat. “This wasn’t a good day for us. We were slowing the game down way too much, playing into their style.”
After opening a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Laus, the Soo surrendered three tallies in a span of 5:31 in the second period.
They managed to rally from 4-2 and 5-4 deficits, but lost when Logan Howery deked Landon Miller before scoring on the backhand on the eighth shootout attempt.
“I saw a couple of guys go five-hole, but (Miller) did a good job covering it,” Howery said when interviewed afterward on YourTV. “So I just made up a little play last minute, and just tucked it backhand.”
This marked the third game on this trip in which the Soo required a third period rally to force play beyond regulation time. The Hounds lost 4-3 in a shootout on Friday in London before beating Owen Sound 6-5 in the same scenario on Saturday.
When it came to Sunday’s contest, “outside of Marco Mignosa and Brady Smith, we had a lot of passengers today, unfortunately,” offered Hounds head coach John Dean, whose fourth-place club left a valuable point on the table.
The Greyhounds are battling to both climb the Western Conference standings and hold off fifth-place London.
“Guys have to step up,” Dean added. “We can’t lean on the same people over and over.”
With 13 regular season games remaining, Kitchener (37-12-4-2) leads the conference with 80 points after dropping a 3-2 shootout to Peterborough on Monday. Windsor (36-12-5-2) and Flint (37-14-3-2) were also Monday winners and have 79 points each.
The Spits defeated Saginaw 7-1 while the Firebirds secured a 5-0 victory over Oshawa.
With 72 points, the Greyhounds (33-16-1-5) are three points up on the Knights (32-18-4-1), who stopped Owen Sound 6-2. The Hounds have 13 games remaining, including a game in hand on Flint.
Dean agreed he was disappointed, given the fact the Hounds had an opportunity while facing the Sting, now 17-32-5-1.
“But I love this team. So I’m disappointed for them, more than with them,” the coach added.
Sarnia was fresh from an 11-3 thrashing at the hands of Saginaw on Friday.
Did the Hounds take them lightly?
“That could definitely have been a part of it,” said Laus, whose club held a 28-27 edge in shots.
Trailing 2-1 in the middle frame, the Sting exploded for three quick goals.
On the powerplay, Easton Walos tied the game at the 11:05 mark. Walos fired from the left dot and his shot may have hit a Hounds defender before eluding Miller up high.
Less than four minutes later, Liam Beamish redirected a Kaden Aucoin shot to make it 3-2.
Just 1:49 after that, the Sting was shorthanded when Jordan Bax took advantage of the Soo’s neutral-zone turnover. Bax fought off a defender before beating Miller on the glove side from the slot.
But the Hounds matched that with a short-handed tally of their own at 18:53. Mignosa went down the left wing and deked netminder Patrick Quinlan for his 25th goal and third shorty of the season.
That gives the Vaughan, Ont., native 13 career short-handed markers, tying him with former Hounds Steve Gatzos and Boris Katchouk for most in franchise history.
Down 4-3 in the third, Mignosa set up Quinn McKenzie to tie the game at 6:20. Seven minutes later, after a Soo turnover at the Sarnia blue-line, Brenner Lammens made it 5-4 Sarnia off a 2-on-1 break.
But with Miller on the bench for a sixth attacker, Chris Brown tied the game with a power-play tally at 18:33.
Early in overtime, the Hounds netminder made a slick save on a driving Alessandro Di Iorio. Justin Cloutier and Jack Van Volsen also scored in the shootout, setting the stage for Hawery’s winning tally.
McKenzie finished with a goal and an assist in defeat.
“We need to go home, have a good week of practice and be ready to pound these guys on Friday,” said Mignosa, whose team is set to entertain the Sting in a 7:07 p.m. start at GFL Memorial Gardens. Guelph provides the opposition on Saturday.
Notes:
Hounds centre Brady Martin (shoulder) sat out for the fourth consecutive game after returning in the Feb. 8, 5-2 win over Windsor. Jeremy Martin (upper body) remains day-to-day after being injured on Saturday.
“We really hope to have him on Friday, but there are no guarantees,” Dean said of Jeremy Martin.
The coach also said there are no new developments with regards the status of injured defencemen Chase Reid and Jakub Winkelhofer.
