Hounds lose at home, forced into Game 5 in London
by Peter Ruicci (Indpeendent Media) | Photos by Bob Davies
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
Desperation can make you skate a little faster, defend a little harder and hunt pucks with a little more tenacity.
The London Knights showed that on Wednesday.
“They were more urgent than we were,” said Soo Greyhounds captain Brady Martin, minutes after the Knights stopped the Hounds 4-1 in front of a season-high crowd of 4,659 at GFL Memorial Gardens. “They definitely wanted this one.”
Desperate to avoid being swept in the best-of-seven, Western Conference quarter-final, the Knights got great efforts from their penalty-killing units to cut the Soo’s series lead to 3-1.
The Hounds were 0-for-6 with the man advantage, while coming up short on all five power-play chances in the second period.
Game 5 is slated for Friday (7 p.m.) at Canada Life Place.
Being up 3-0 in the series after securing a 3-2, double-overtime victory on Tuesday here, “we might have gotten too comfortable,” said Hounds centre Quinn McKenzie, who scored the lone goal in defeat. “I thought they wanted it more than us. I wasn’t happy with how we came out and played that game. We were too content.”
On a night when both teams were admittedly fatigued after going to double-overtime less than 24 hours earlier, Hounds head coach John Dean praised the visitors for turning in a solid performance.
Ryan Brown notched a natural hat trick for the winners, who scored twice in the second period and two more in the third to erase the Soo’s early 1-0 lead.
“They played a desperate brand, they capitalized on our mistakes and we didn’t match their determination tonight,” said Dean, whose club plans to depart the Sault Thursday morning.
The coach also spoke of the lesson his charges need to grasp.
“We need to learn how to win in the playoffs,” Dean began. “We need to take a team that’s on the ropes and put them away.”
And Martin talked of the need for the Greyhounds to mature as a playoff club.
“This is good adversity for us to go through,” he added.
Knights assistant coach Rick Steadman praised his club for playing hard and avoiding elimination.
“Our players wanted to go home for one more game and see what happens,” he said.
Of the Knights work while killing penalties, Steadman offered kudos for the many blocked shots and also the work of goaltender Aleksei Medvedev, who made his first start of the series.
He replaced Sebastian Gatto, who faced 45 shots on Tuesday night and a combined 88 over the last two games.
“We wanted a fresh goalie in there and Medvedev was great. He stepped up big time and made some really-big saves,” said Steadman, whose club planned to travel as far as West Branch, Mich., on Wednesday night, before completing the trip home on Thursday.
After going 3-for-7 on the powerplay over the first two games of the series, the Hounds have now failed to connect on 10 straight.
“The No. 1 thing for us on the powerplay is to not give the opposition momentum,” said Dean. “And their kills drove momentum for them in a good way tonight.”
The coach also spoke of his team being a “little casual” with the man advantage. “We want to be a powerplay that attacks.”
“Our powerplay wasn’t urgent enough,” offered Martin. “We were a little nonchalant.”
Dean said fatigue was a non-factor, believing neither team got an advantage from the other being tired.
Martin thought both clubs felt the effects of playing more than four periods of hockey one night earlier.
With the score tied 1-1, the visitors took the lead for good with a power-play tally at 13:41 of the second period.
Carter George made a series of saves in tight, before Brown tapped a rebound in from the right side of the goal.
In the final period, the veteran forward added two more goals.
At 14:58, a high clear by defenceman Caleb Mitchell resulted in a Brown breakaway. He skated in on George, made a little fake and slipped the puck through the five-hole.
Brown then capped the scoring with an empty-net tally two minutes later.
McKenzie opened the scoring with a slick, wrap-around tally at 6:55 of the opening frame.
The Knights tied the game 1-1 at 6:51 of the second period. Seven seconds after leaving the penalty box, Jacob Vandeven skated to the top of the right circle and beat George through the five-hole.
William Nicholl turned in a strong game for the winners with a pair of assists.
Looking ahead to Friday’s clash, McKenzie said the Hounds must play with more urgency, while generating more shots.
“We have to put in a more complete effort and play with a little more ruthlessness, if we want to do anything in these playoffs,” said Dean.
“We’re going to take it to them on Friday,” added Martin. “We knew we wouldn’t go undefeated in the playoffs. We’re the better team, we showed that in the first three games.”
Notes:
Hounds centre Chris Brown missed his second straight game due to an upper-body injury. Dean said the veteran could return on Friday.
London played minus centre Braiden Clark and rearguard Linus Funck, both due to upper-body woes.
Should this series require a sixth game, it’s slated for Sunday (7:07 p.m.) at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Should the series go the distance, Game 7 is scheduled for Tuesday (7 p.m.) of next week in London.
