Hounds unable to overcome Game 3 gaffes
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photos by Bob Davies
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS | GAME CENTRE
Frequent security breaches, for the second game in a row, proved catastrophic for the Soo Greyhounds on Tuesday.
The Hounds gave the Kitchener Rangers access to the front of their net on three of their goals. The fourth came on a defensive-zone turnover. That was enough for the visitors to secure a 4-3 victory in front of 4,532 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“We made really immature mistakes for goals against. That just can’t happen at this time of the year, obviously,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose club now finds itself in a 3-0 hole in the best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinal.
Game 4, a must-win clash for the Hounds, is slated for Thursday (7:07 p.m.) in the Sault.
“Principled, rule-based hockey is what we’ve talked about from September on,” the coach continued. “It should be on auto-pilot. We should be really organized on the way back to our zone. We simply can’t give up those kinds of chances.”
“Shooting ourselves in the foot these last two games, when we finally tie it up or take the lead, hasn’t been the best feeling,” said defenceman Chase Reid, whose power-play goal at 13:50 of the third period tied Tuesday’s game 3-3. “Mistakes were very costly. They have been the last two games.”
Miscues were also a determining factor in the Hounds 8-5 loss in Game 2 in Kitchener on Sunday.
“At the end of the day it comes down to execution and we weren’t executing,” said centre Quinn McKenzie, who tied the game 1-1 with his fourth post-season tally at 14:02 of the first period. “We made a lot of mistakes – it’s repetitive. It’s hard to win that way. We feel as if we’ve handed them the last two games.”
With the score tied 3-3 in the final frame, the Rangers took advantage of a Greyhounds turnover.
Defenceman Jakub Winkelhofer was stripped in the corner and Dylan Edwards centered it from behind the Soo goal. The puck hit Winkelhofer’s stick and eluded George, who had no chance on the play.
The third goal for Edwards made it 4-3 at 14:43, and the Hounds were unable to get the equalizer.
“I feel so bad for Winky,” said Dean, who spoke of how good the rearguard has played this season. “I feel awful over that last goal.”
The visitors opened the scoring 11:42 in, when the Greyhounds were caught flat-footed. Haeden Ellis beat the Hounds down the ice and took a back-pass from Alexander Bilecki in front of the net. Ellis went high glove side on Carter George.
After McKenzie tied it, Jack Pridham took a stretch pass and, on a 1-on-1, pulled up along the right-wing boards. He found the trailer, Edwards, who had no one near him.
Edwards went low stick side to make it 2-1 at 17:50 of the middle frame.
But early in the third, Marco Mignosa fed Brady Martin down the left wing. From the left dot, Martin ripped the puck low to the glove side on Christian Kirsch. That made it 2-2 at the 1:41 mark.
On the powerplay, at 5:39, Edwards beat Winkelhofer to the net and redirected a Pridham feed past George.
“It’s frustrating,” McKenzie said of the Hounds getting beaten to the front of their net. “We went over that in our pre-scout.”
Reid’s power-play tally to tie the game came after Martin won a face-off, and Lukas Fischer found the second-year man at the top of the left circle.
Reid snapped a shot past Kirsch on the glove side.
But it took just 57 seconds for the Rangers to reply, taking the lead for good.
“We answered them with rush goals. Edwards had a great game, he’s a warrior who plays a two-way game,” said Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas. “But this was a really-tight game. They came hard, they forechecked hard. But our guys dug in and played hard.”
“We battled, but Kitchener deserves credit,” said Dean, whose club was outshot 24-21. “They really finish their routes to the paint. But the way we’re leaving their zone, they’re skating right through us.”
Kitchener went 1-for-4 with the man advantage while the Soo was 1-for-5.
“The fourth game will be the toughest. We know we have to be prepared,” said Ahokas, whose club flew to the Sault, allowing the Rangers to avoid a bus ride back to Kitchener should the Hounds force a Game 5 on Friday (7 p.m.) at the Aud.
Staring at elimination, Dean said the Greyhounds have little choice but to focus on winning each shift.
“We need to get some swagger back,” he added.
“We still have Thursday,” said Reid. “I still think we’re very capable of coming back. This series isn’t over. We need to come out Thursday and dominate.”
McKenzie touched on the fact the Hounds must be totally focused on extending the series come Thursday.
He also spoke of how Windsor was up 3-0 on Kitchener in last year’s conference semis, only to see the Rangers win four straight to advance.
“Doing that, would be awesome,” he said.
Notes:
Hounds winger Jeremy Martin was on the receiving end of a check to the head at 3:45 of the second period. Carson Campbell was assessed a minor penalty and Martin, who left the ice under his own power, didn’t return.
When asked about the severity of the injury, Dean said he hadn’t yet spoken to the club’s medical staff.
He also mentioned the possibility of the OHL reviewing the hit.
The Hounds again played minus centre Chris Brown (upper body) and defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker (illness).
Without Brown and McConnell-Barker, the Hounds dressed just two, 2006-born skaters, along with George.
The Rangers dressed eight, along with Kirsch.
Meantime, the Hounds have yet to finalize travel plans for a possible fifth game. There has been speculation they might also fly to Kitchener.
Should the series go six games, that contest is slated for Sunday (7:07 p.m.) here.
A seventh game, if needed, is scheduled for Apr. 21 in Kitchener.
