Hounds flounder in trip opener
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Vince Neil Media @vinceneilmedia
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
There are times when having a short memory is a definite asset.
Just ask the Soo Greyhounds.
Best for the Hounds to quickly forget Thursday’s slipshod performance, which resulted in a 6-3 loss to the Niagara IceDogs in front of 2,525 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
“It was more than sloppy. We don’t start on time and maybe we read our press clippings and forget how hard we have to work to be successful,” said head coach John Dean, whose club had its eight-game win streak snapped in the opener of a three-game trip. “We made mental errors for some Grade A scoring chances and goals against. It’s just a stinker. Up-and-down the lineup, it was a really bad night.”
Dean, whose club fell to 29-15-1-1 heading into a Friday tilt in Erie (7 p.m.), went on to say his club has to hit the reset button.
“We came in knowing that we were on a hot streak and we took a team lightly,” added forward Colin Fitzgerald, whose club fell behind 4-1 in the second period after surrendering three goals in a span of 5:08. “Whenever you do that in this league you can get bitten in the ass. I think that’s what happened to us tonight.”
Centre Christopher Brown, who scored his 16th goal in defeat, spoke of how he believes the Hounds both took their opponents lightly and were a little too high on themselves.
“They work very hard and they took advantage of the chances they got,” explained Brown, whose club trailed 4-2 entering the third, before Niagara scored to make it 5-2 with 9:32 remaining. “We shot ourselves in the foot and gave them a chance to put us in a deep hole.”
With the score tied 1-1, on the rush, Hayden Reid’s initial shot from the right circle was turned aside by Carter George. But Ivan Galiyanov gobbled up the rebound and beat George high to the glove side at 3:19 of the middle frame.
The home side made it 3-1 at 6:02. Again off the rush, Noah Read cut in untouched from the left wing and his backhander slipped through the five-hole.
The IceDogs increased their lead to 4-1 after Soo defenceman Callum Croskery lost the puck at the Niagara blue-line. Reid skated in on a breakaway and beat George under the blocker at the 8:27 mark.
“The turnover on the fourth goal, that really took the wind out of our sails,” said Dean, who agreed his club hung George out to dry on Thursday.
In his first five Greyhounds starts prior to this one, the newly acquired netminder was a perfect 5-0, having surrendered just five goals.
“The amount of opportunities given up off the rush, the amount of odd-man rushes, the breakaways. . . we absolutely hung him out to dry,” said Dean, whose club concludes its trip with a Sunday (2 p.m.) clash against Brantford.
The Bulldogs enter Friday’s action with a 32-7-6-1 mark, tied with Ottawa for first place overall in the 20-team OHL.
Meantime, with their third consecutive win, Niagara improves to 23-19-3-1.
Midway through the second, Noah Laus’s hard work on the forecheck resulted in a Carson Andrew goal to make it 4-2. But Ryerson Edgar converted a 3-on-1, beating George low to the stick side to increase the Niagara lead to three goals.
However, just 1:12 later, while working on the powerplay, Brown deposited the rebound of a Chase Reid shot, beating Charlie Robertson on the stick side to make it 5-3.
Late in the third, Read notched a short-handed tally, his second marker of the night, into the empty Soo goal.
Justin Cloutier, on the powerplay, opened the scoring midway through the first period. Riley Patterson tied it three minutes later with an IceDogs power-play marker. Galiyanov, Patterson and Reid contributed a goal and an assist for the winners, who were outshot 29-27.
The Soo finished 2-for-3 on the powerplay, making the Hounds 6-for-10 in that department over the last two games.
Hounds defenceman Spencer Evans took a five-minute major for slashing, along with a game misconduct at 19:41 of the third period. Evans is facing supplemental discipline from the OHL.
When asked, Dean said: “That’s not a good penalty for us. We need him to take a more mature approach.”
Heading into Erie, Fitzgerald said the Hounds “have to come out hard, finish every check and not play soft.”
