Hounds offence falters in Barrie
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by James Spizzirri
Dazzling goaltending by Samuel Ivanov and flawless penalty-killing went for naught for the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday.
Unable to generate much offensively, the Hounds dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to the Barrie Colts before 4,097 at Sadlon Arena.
The Soo managed few Grade A scoring chances and just 15 shots-on-goal, including only two in the final period.
But while admitting to his team’s offensive shortcomings, head coach John Dean sung the praises of a group of players who battled hard throughout.
“I can look every guy in the eye and feel pretty good about what they put on the ice,” said Dean, whose club was outshot 30-15. “I thought everyone to a man on this team competed right to the final whistle. Sometimes it’s just not your night. We played a good hockey club and they played a big, physical, fast game against us.”
Pressed about his team’s lack of scoring chances, the Soo coach spoke of how the Greyhounds “definitely didn’t generate enough or get enough pucks to the net. I thought Barrie did a really good job against our forecheck. I thought we did a poor job of getting pucks behind their D.”
The result of those two worlds colliding, the coach added, was a limited amount of offensive-zone time.
“For sure, we have to do better,” said overage winger Kalvyn Watson, when asked about creating scoring chances. “We definitely had more to give.”
Watson, who scored his team’s lone goal, his 19th of the season and fifth in five games, also talked about how generating more scoring opportunities “comes along with our play on the defensive side of the puck.”
Over his last eight games, the Peterborough, Ont., native has six goals and six assists. His power-play marker, at 18:02 of the second period, trimmed the Hounds deficit to 2-1.
Positioned on the left side of the Barrie goal, Watson appeared to be trying to feed teammate Mark Duarte in front. However, the puck hit netminder Anson Thornton and wound up in the Colts’ net.
Dean praised his power play, which finished 1-for-2, and his penalty-killers, who blanked the Colts on five straight power-play opportunities.
“Unbelievable performances by all special teams,” the coach noted.
Ivanov’s biggest save came midway through the third period when he slide across the crease and robbed Barrie’s Jacob Frasca. The second-year goalie made an impressive pad stop on Callum Chisholm midway through the middle stanza.
Three minutes after that, Ivanov thwarted Ethan Cardwell on a 3-on-1.
“We gave up a lot of Grade A chances and too many opportunities against,” said Dean, whose club takes a 12-16-7-4 record into Sudbury for Sunday’s 2:05 p.m. start. “I thought he (Ivanov) took away some sure-fire goals.”
“It was a solid game,” Ivanov said of his performance. “I had good confidence throughout the game.”
Known as a player who puts team goals first, Ivanov was asked how difficult it’s been to start 16 straight games in the absence of injured netminder Charlie Schenkel.
“It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve found ways to reset before every game, mentally and physically, to be ready to play,” added Ivanov, who gave credit to athletic therapist Julian Cooper. “My goal every night is to give us the best chance to win.”
Two turnovers in particular cost the Hounds in the opening period.
While improving to 21-10-4-2, Barrie converted both into goals. After Zach Wigle forced a turnover, Chisholm scored from the left side of the goal, beating Ivanov low to the glove side at 18:48.
Later, former Greyhound Tyler Savard notched his first in a Colts uniform, after taking a feed from Brandt Clarke. Alone on the right side of the Soo goal, Savard’s tap in made it 2-0 at 5:54 of the second period.
“Turnovers have been a problem for us in general,” Dean said, explaining how decision-making has had a tendency to “overcomplicate things. Unfortunately, that’s led to some goals against.”
The Colts capped the scoring when Artur Cholach notched an empty-netter with 1:01 remaining.
Looking ahead to the end of the trip in Sudbury, Watson discussed the need for the Hounds to be better.
“We need to bring the effort we had in the second and third period tonight into Sudbury,” he said. “We need to play with that relentless pace and follow our structure.”
Notes:
Hounds defenceman Andrew Gibson, who suffered what appeared to be a leg injury on Thursday in North Bay, has returned to the Sault. He’ll see a team doctor before it’s determined just how long he’ll be out.
Dean spoke of how it could be day-to-day, or week-to-week.
