Hounds win game after losing Beck to ‘egregious hit’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
The Soo Greyhounds spun adversity into opportunity as the OHL playoffs began on Thursday.
A controversial hit, that resulted in a first period injury to leading scorer Jack Beck, served to both anger and motivate the Hounds, who went on to defeat the Guelph Storm 4-3 in front of 3,857 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“We wanted to win that game for him,” said captain Bryce McConnell-Barker, whose club will take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven, Western Conference quarter-finals into Game 2 on Saturday (7:07 p.m. at the Gardens). “After the first period, we rallied over that.”
“It made us hungrier,” added overage forward Jacob Frasca. “We were more determined to win.”
“That was an egregious hit,” said head coach John Dean, whose club exploded with four goals in the second period, turning a 1-0 first period deficit, into a 4-3 lead heading into the final frame. “It’s pretty obvious that hit was directed at the head and, no doubt about it, Guelph poked the bear.”
At 9:48 of the first period, Beck, who was in the left circle, fanned on a shot attempt due to an opponent’s active stick. As he began to turn, the overage was blind-sided by what was arguably a head shot delivered by Storm forward Max Namestnikov.
Beck lay on the ice in obvious distress and appeared woozy while being led off by teammate Marco Mignosa and athletic therapist Julian Cooper.
Much to the Greyhounds chagrin, no penalty was assessed on the play.
“They targeted the best player on our team, our leader in points,” said Dean.
The coach also spoke of how his club’s response over the next few minutes following the hit, made how they felt obvious.
Asked what explanation the referees gave him for the non-call, Dean said they “didn’t believe it was a head shot. But it’s a pretty-easy call.”
Questioned about the possible severity of Beck’s injury, Dean answered without hesitation.
“I do think it could be serious, absolutely. I can almost guarantee Beck doesn’t play in Game 2,” the coach said. “That’s disgusting in my opinion.”
After the game, both Dean and general manager Kyle Raftis spoke of how they expect the league to review the incident.
“I’m expecting something will be tied on to that one,” Dean said of a possible suspension for Namestnikov.
When asked, Guelph head coach Chad Wiseman said he’d only seen the play live, but was sure the league would take a look at it.
“When you lose one of your best players to a dirty hit, you want to avenge it with a victory for your teammate,” Mignosa added.
Which is what the Greyhounds managed to do.
With the score tied 3-3 and the Soo on the power play in the middle frame, McConnell-Barker made a slick feed to free Gavin Hayes, who had gotten behind the Storm defence.
Hayes made a right-to-left move before beating Damian Slavik with a backhander on the stick side. The goal at the 14:49 mark put the home side ahead for good.
The Hounds followed up with a strong final frame to secure the series opener.
“Great performance over the last two periods,” Mignosa said.
Especially over the final 40 minutes “our guys competed so hard,” added Dean, who gave kudos to his veterans. “Over the last 40 minutes we amped up our game.”
Trailing 2-1 in the second period, the Hounds scored two goals in a span of 25 seconds.
A puck shot into the Guelph zone by Hayes took a strange bounce and lay at the side of the Storm goal. Slavic was looking in the wrong direction as McConnell-Barker raced to the puck and tapped it home. That tied the game at the 9:46 mark.
Mignosa made a beautiful individual effort, beating two defenders to set up Owen Allard in the slot. He beat Slavic on the stick side to give the home team a 3-2 lead at 10:11.
Two minutes later, a hit on Brady Martin popped the puck loose and Brody Crane found himself alone in front of Charlie Schenkel. He tied the score 3-3 at 12:14.
Arttu Karki, on a feed from Jordan D’Intino, had the other Hounds goal.
On a night when they held a 22-17 edge in shots, Hayes and McConnell-Barker, who shone, contributed a goal and an assist each for the winners. Kirill Kudryavtsev, who was also a standout, added a pair of assists.
Michael Buchinger and Jake Karabella, both on the power play, rounded out the Guelph scoring.
“I liked the way our team played. I thought we defended well,” said Wiseman. “We didn’t give them a lot of Grade A opportunities.”
Looking ahead to Game 2, Dean spoke of how the Hounds forecheck was “really average for the first 30 minutes,” on Thursday, and how he’d be looking for improvement in that area on Saturday.
“Special teams, power play and PK, both have to step up to the plate,” the coach added.
Notes:
Veteran Julian Fantino served a one-game, league-imposed suspension on Thursday.
The league penalized the winger for abuse of an official, which resulted in a 10-minute misconduct in last Sunday’s season-ending 9-2 loss to Saginaw.
Meantime, following Saturday’s clash, Games 3-4 in this series are slated for next Monday and Wednesday both beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Guelph.
If a fifth clash is needed, it would be played on Apr. 5 (7:07 p.m.) in the Sault.
Game 6, if required, is slated for Apr. 7 (6:30 p.m.) in Guelph.
And should the series go the distance, Game 7 is scheduled for GFL Memorial Gardens on Apr. 9 (7:07 p.m.).