Hounds gain ‘critical’ victory
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Natalie Shaver (OHLImages)
The Soo Greyhounds biggest game to date, yielded their biggest win of the 2024-2025 season.
Carson Andrew’s first goal in a month snapped a 2-2 tie in the second period on Friday and the Hounds never trailed after that. They hung on for a 5-4 victory over the Sarnia Sting in front of 4,439 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
“It was critical for us to win,” said Andrew, whose club got two goals and an assist from Noel Nordh, but nearly blew a 5-2 lead in the final frame.
“Obviously, we’re battling for a playoff spot and that win was huge,” added Brady Martin, whose team gained a priceless two points with just four regular season games remaining. “We could have been a lot better. But we found a way to win, get the two points and that’s what we came here for.”
By virtue of the victory, the Hounds improved to 25-35-2-2. With 54 points, they’re tied with Sarnia (21-31-5-7) for the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference. However, the Soo has a wide edge in the first tie-breaker, 23-19 in regulation plus overtime wins.
Sarnia also has four games left. Should the clubs tie for seventh place, the Soo would get the nod.
However, should the Hounds and Sting tie for the last playoff berth, a one-game clash, slated for March 25 in the Sault, would determine which club advances.
Despite being outshot 51-20, Owen Sound, behind netminder Carter George, defeated Guelph 7-2 on Friday. With four games remaining, the Attack (24-33-4-3) owns seventh place, one point ahead of the Soo and Sarnia.
With 45 points, 10th-place Guelph (18-36-5-4) is all but out of the playoff picture.
The Greyhounds are slated to visit Flint on Saturday (7 p.m.), while Owen Sound is home to Kitchener and Sarnia travels to Barrie. All three playoff contenders are idle on Sunday.
“Oh man, I’m beyond proud,” head coach John Dean said of his team’s effort. “That’s especially after how hard we fought last night in Windsor. You could see the fatigue in our guys at the beginning of the game.”
The Soo dropped a 6-3 decision to the Spitfires at the start of a three-games-in-three-days trip.
“Our guys knew they didn’t have their A game. You could sense it after the first period and sense it in the room,” added Dean, whose club trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes. “When you don’t feel as if you have your best, it’s easy to roll over. Bur guys dug in and scrapped through.”
Nordh said he liked the way “we got pucks deep, the way we played at the two blue-lines and how we won 50-50 battles. We played a simple brand of hockey.”
With the score tied 2-2, Andrew redirected a Brodie McConnell-Barker point shot for the go-ahead marker at 12:22 of the second period.
“I saw Brodie getting ready to shoot, so I prepared myself for the high tip,” said Andrew, who hadn’t scored since Feb. 12. “That felt great, especially making it 3-2. That’s definitely my biggest goal of the season.”
At the 5:20 mark of the third, Travis Hayes, after a feed from Martin, saw Marco Mignosa alone in the slot. Mignosa notched his 34th, beating Evan Maillet to give the visitors a two-goal advantage.
And then it was Nordh, after a patient feed from Jordan Charron, who connected on a 2-on-1. Nordh’s second of the game and 18th of the season made it 5-2 at 8:19.
However, costly Soo turnovers allowed Sarnia’s Beckham Edwards to beat Nolan Lalonde twice in a span of 2:41.
Trailing 5-4, the Sting took a costly too-many-men penalty at 18:12 of the final frame.
Nordh, on a backdoor feed from Mignosa, scored a tap-in, power-play marker at 1:29 of the second. That was the Soo’s first man-advantage marker in eight games. Over their previous 14 games, the Hounds were 2-for-42 on the power play, before going 1-for-4 on Friday.
Brady T. Smith, after an impressive forechecking effort by Charron, had the Hounds other goal.
On a night when the Soo held a 32-27 edge in shots, Mignosa notched a goal and an assist while Martin and Charron contributed two assists each. Easton Wainwright and Matt Manza had the other Sarnia goals.
Martin was particularly effective, hounding pucks like a man possessed.
“All I want is to win every game from here on out,” he said. “They’re all must-win games. I’m really determined.”
“That’s generally who he is,” Dean said of the second-year centre. “He has an incredible competitive edge.”
Asked about Nordh, Dean spoke of how “that was one of his best games in the last 10 or 15. He was determined to have an impact.”
As happy as the Hounds were following the contest, the celebration was apparently short.
“It’s another playoff game,” Andrew said of the clash in Flint. “We’re already focusing on tomorrow. We’re going there to get the job done.”
“We can’t be happy with just this win,” added Martin. “We’ll enjoy it, but it’s on to the next one.”
Dean credited his young team for its ability to stay focused.
“They’re too smart” to get overly excited about Friday’s victory, the coach said.
