Hounds rally for ‘biggest win’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Natalie Shaver (OHLImages)
Before they knew it, a lead of three-oh quickly turned into uh-oh for the Saginaw Spirit on Wednesday.
In a clash for first place in the OHL’s West Division, the Soo Greyhounds scored five unanswered goals – four in the third period – to beat the Spirit 5-3 before 2,554 at the Dow Event Center.
“Amazing. I’m so proud of our group,” said Hounds captain Bryce McConnell-Barker, minutes after the Soo had taken over sole possession of top spot with a 32-12-2-1 record, two points up on the Spirit (32-13-0-1), though Saginaw has a game in hand.
The Hounds also moved back into a tie with the London Knights (32-11-0-3) for first place in the league’s overall standings. London does have one game in hand.
Gavin Hayes, on a tremendous individual effort, scored the winner as the Soo did something no other OHL club has been able to do in 2023-2024.
Saginaw, which held a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes on Wednesday, had been a perfect 18-0-0-0 when leading after two periods.
“Biggest win of the year, that’s for sure,” said head coach John Dean, whose team won its sixth in a row, while snapping Saginaw’s seven-game winning streak. “It’s significant because of the odds we faced. I’m extraordinarily proud.”
“In the room, everyone knew we could come back,” added Hayes, whose club has won all four, head-to-head clashes played in Saginaw this season, while improving to 19-5-1-1 overall on the road.
The Spirit has won both head-to-head battles at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“Having confidence and winning those games is pretty good,” added Hayes, who notched his 27th goal of the season.
Dean went on to call his team’s third period performance “pretty special,” adding: “I love these guys. But most importantly, they love each other. They play real hard for each other.”
With the score tied 3-3, McConnell-Barker dropped the puck to Hayes just inside the Saginaw blue-line. Hayes skated down the right wing, walked Saginaw’s Joey Willis, “faked backhand, forehand and went upstairs.”
He completed a marvelous effort at the 10:36 mark, beating netminder Andrew Oke high to the glove-hand side.
“The most-beautiful goal I’ve ever seen, full stop. I’m not kidding,” said Dean. “It was like in slow motion from the bench. I’ve never seen a goal so cerebral and smooth and such a no-doubter.”
Told of his coach’s glowing analysis, Hayes said: “Yeah, it was pretty nice.”
In the final minute, Jordan D’Intino added a power-play marker, the team’s third in four chances, to cap the scoring.
Trailing 3-0, the Soo began its comeback late in the second period. On the power play, Jack Beck fed Jacob Frasca who made a behind-the-back feed to McConnell-Barker alone in front. The Hounds captain beat Oke to make it 3-1 at 18:31.
That gave the visitors a needed boost and they wasted little time acting on it.
“Two goals (down) is way better than a three-goal deficit,” said McConnell-Barker, who finished the game with a goal and an assist. “That goal was huge. It definitely gave us confidence going into the third.”
Just 1:17 into the final frame, while skating on a 4-on-3 power play, Arttu Karki fired a one-timer from the right circle. It beat Oke high to the glove side. The goal was Karki’s 19th of the season and 12th with the man advantage.
Just a minute later, Travis Hayes stripped the puck from a Saginaw defender along the left-wing boards. Hayes skated in on a bad angle, but his shot got under Oke’s arm on the short side, tying the score 3-3.
Saginaw opened the scoring 4:19 into the opening period on a power-play marker by Sault native Calem Mangone. He beat Charlie Schenkel low on the glove side from the doorstep.
The home side made it 2-zip with another power-play marker at 5:58 of the middle stanza. Willis fired from the right circle and the puck eluded Schenkel through the five-hole.
Just under 11-minutes later, Willis did it again. A blast from Rodwin Dionicio appeared to hit Schenkel in the mask and the rebound came right to a wide-open Willis at the side of the goal. He deposited the rebound to give the Spirit a 3-0 advantage.
“It’s tough to blow a 3-0 lead, but in reality we had a bunch of saves in the first and second periods that, if they go in, probably change the complexion of the game anyway,” Spirit head coach Chris Lazary said on his team’s television broadcast. “We continue to let guys get behind us – some of the same themes we’ve been trying to correct.”
Lazary, whose club is slated to visit the Sault on Feb. 11 and March 24, also spoke of his team not doing the little things well.
But “if we do what we can do, that team can’t hang with us, for sure,” the coach added.
Gavin Hayes joined McConnell-Barker with a goal and an assist each. Beck and Marco Mignosa contributed two assists each on a night when the visitors held a 34-24 edge in shots.
When asked, Dean lauded the play of rookies Travis Hayes and Brady Martin saying the duo “looked like they were shot out of a cannon. They were a huge, huge source of energy for us.”
The Hounds lost veteran rearguard Caeden Carlisle at the end of the first period following a call Dean definitely didn’t like. After a tussle with Saginaw’s Matyas Sapovaliv at the 20:00 mark, Carlisle was handed a five-minute major and two-minute instigator for fighting, along with a game misconduct as the aggressor.
Sapovaliv got a minor for roughing.
“Poorly called,” said Dean, whose team managed to kill off the five-minute major at the start of the second period. “There’s clearly a distance travelled by the player (Sapovaliv) and when you travel that distance, you’re indicating that you want a confrontation. Our guy obliged and suddenly their guy didn’t want to.”
Next up for the Greyhounds is a Friday home game against Mississauga (7:07 p.m.).
