Hounds lose ground after tough setback
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
They gained a point in the standings on Wednesday, but lost one in the playoff race.
Such is life for the Soo Greyhounds.
“It’s obviously frustrating,” said winger Kalvyn Watson.
“It obviously hurts,” added centre Bryce McConnell-Barker.
The Hounds blew a 3-1 lead in the third period, eventually falling 4-3 to the Sarnia Sting in a shootout in front of 3,185 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Coupled with Kitchener’s 6-4 victory over Oshawa, the Hounds (17-26-9-6) have fallen seven points behind the Rangers (26-26-4-0) in the battle for the eighth-and-final Western Conference playoff spot. With 49 points, the Soo has 10 regular season games remaining while Kitchener, with 56 points, has 12 left to play.
“After playing a game like that, it’s definitely not easy only getting the one point,” said Hounds’ centre Mark Duarte, whose team battled hard throughout. “We played a strong game overall. The guys in this room deserved two points.”
But despite their efforts, typified by the large number of shots they blocked, the Hounds were forced to watch Luca Del Bel Belluz and Jordan Kyrou score the only two shootout goals.
In a season of missed opportunities, the Hounds are now 4-15 in games that go beyond regulation.
“It hurts, I’m disappointed,” said head coach John Dean, who praised his club for its impressive work over the first two periods. “The guys competed hard for the most part.”
However, while acknowledging how hard Sarnia pushed back, the coach also thought his players got away from their structure in the final frame and didn’t win nearly as many puck battles as they had in the first 40 minutes.
“It’s so obvious what our formula is and how we have to play in order to win games,” Dean added. “Unfortunately, to get away from it in a key period tonight is disappointing.”
The win for the Sting, 6-0-1-1 over its last eight games, improved the club’s season record to 32-17-5-3.
As for the Greyhounds, who play host to Guelph on Friday and Oshawa on Saturday, there’s little to do but focus on themselves and each of the 10 remaining games.
“We just have to lay it out there and see what we can do,” said Watson.
Points are precious “especially now that it’s crunch time heading into the last 10 games of the year,” added McConnell-Barker. “All you can do is control what you can control. That’s what I live by. We’re just going to try to win 10 out of 10 here.”
Both players agreed the team would take more positives than negatives out of Wednesday’s contest.
Along with their penalty-killing units, who were a perfect six-for-six, Duarte’s performance was the highlight of the night.
While protecting a 2-1 lead in the second period, the Greyhounds were in the midst of killing off a 5-on-3 Sarnia power play when Duarte blocked a shot.
The overage outraced Ty Voit for the puck, skated in and beat netminder Nicholas Surzycia for a short-handed tally. That was confirmed by review, after the initial call had Duarte earning a penalty shot.
But the review showed the puck had crossed the goal-line before Duarte slid into Surzycia, knocking the net from its moorings.
That made it 3-1 for the home side at the 8:23 mark.
“That’s Mark Duarte finding a way,” said Dean. “That play is probably how I’ll always remember him. He willed himself into scoring that goal.”
Marcus Limpar-Lantz opened the scoring at 7:59 of the opening period. Charlie Schenkel made two saves on Limpar Lantz, but the Sarnia player’s ensuing centering attempt deflected off of a Hounds defenceman and into the Soo net.
The Hounds tied it 42 seconds later as McConnell-Barker won a face-off and Watson wasted no time in rifling a shot past Surzycia, high on the blocker side.
The home side took a 2-1 lead early in the middle frame. Leading a 2-on-1, Duarte was on the right wing when he fed Jordan D’Intino on the left. D’Intino’s shot eluded Surzycia high on the short side.
With the score 3-1 early in the third, Nolan Dillingham’s bad angle shot deflected off of Schenkel and into the Hounds goal to make it 3-2 at the 3:25 mark. Sault native Tyson Doucette drew an assist on the goal.
Seven minutes later, a slick, three-way passing play resulted in Sandis Vilmanis scoring from in front of Schenkel, who had no chance on the play.
Sarnia outshot the Soo 31-20, including 3-0 in overtime.
“We’re definitely happy with our third period,” said Sting head coach Alan Letang. “The first two we were lazy and trying to see how much effort we had to put in. The third period is how we should play.”
Letang praised Schenkel for his performance while saying his team “knew the Hounds would come out desperate. Give them credit.”
“We’ll just keep hammering the nail,” said Duarte, as he looked ahead. “I think this group is a playoff team and the way we’ve been playing shows it.”
