Injury-riddled Hounds fall to Otters
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo credit: Peter Wreschinsky/Erie Otters
Friday proved a night of mixed emotions.
On the one hand, the Soo Greyhounds – despite the absence of four injured veterans – played the Erie Otters tough.
“We fought hard – that’s what we do,” said winger Justin Cloutier, who scored twice in a 6-3 loss to the Otters in front of 3,510 at Erie Insurance Arena.
On the other hand, “that was a very sloppy game for us,” said head coach John Dean, whose club was outshot 45-26, but was in a one-goal game until the Otters scored twice into an empty net. “We had chances to score. We have to have that killer instinct.”
The Hounds, who entered the third period tied 2-2, skated minus winger Noel Nordh and defenceman Andrew Gibson, both out with lower-body injuries, and centres Owen Allard and Chris Brown, sidelined with upper-body injuries.
Nordh, Gibson and Allard are considered among the club’s go-to players.
However, “I don’t think being short guys matters a lot,” said centre Tate Vader. “We have guys who can step up. But I thought we could have done better defending the rush.”
Cloutier lamented the loss, but also spoke of how he was “actually pretty proud of our effort and how we stuck in against the odds. There’s something we can build on going into Sunday.”
That’s when the Hounds, who are now 12-11-0-0, wrap up their three-game trip in Brampton (2 p.m.).
Nordh, who fell awkwardly into the boards and appeared to hurt his right leg on Thursday against Niagara, looks to be the most-seriously injured.
Dean called the injury “significant” and said Nordh was “week to week.” Gibson was also injured Thursday when he accidentally tripped over the leg of netminder Charlie Schenkel. The Hounds believe he’s day to day.
Brown, who had been out, returned Thursday, but suffered a setback. He and Allard, who has missed seven straight games, will join Nordh and Gibson on the sidelines on Sunday.
While Dean spoke of how “some guys rose to the occasion tonight and some guys didn’t,” he did go on to call the character of his players “exceptional. We’re a gritty team.”
The Hounds wasted little time as Sam Bowness scored his first OHL goal just 1:41 in. Off of a face-off, Erie’s Ty Henry lost the puck at the side of his goal and Bowness slid it past netminder Charlie Burns on the stick side.
The home team tied the score with a power-play marker at 2:28 of the second period. Matthew Schaefer skated from behind his own goal and down the right wing, before firing from the top of the right circle. His low drive beat Charlie Schenkel through the five-hole and Burns, a Sault native, drew an assist on the play.
The Soo went up 2-1 three minutes later when Brady Martin eluded two defenders before sending the puck towards the goal from the dot in the left circle. Cloutier redirected the feed past Burns high to the stick side.
Just four minutes after that, the Otters tied it 2-2 shorthanded. The puck was sent ahead to Pano Fimis who skated in on a breakaway, beating Schenkel on the glove side with a right-to-left deke.
Erie took the lead at 1:56 of the third on a controversial goal. Alexis Daviault fed Calem Hughes in front of the goal and he beat Schenkel, who was sprawled on the ice. Schenkel believed he had been interfered with by Erie’s Brett Hammond.
After a review, the goal stood.
Dean said he didn’t necessarily agree with the ruling, but added: “Those are tough calls.”
The Otters went up 4-2 when Schaefer’s shot from along the left-wing boards hit a Hounds player in front and found its way into the goal at 7:47.
However, four-minutes later, Cloutier scored his second of the night and 11th of the season off the rush. Marco Mignosa made the feed and Cloutier, from the slot, beat Burns high on the stick side to make it 4-3.
The Otters, who improved to 13-6-2-1, capped the scoring with late empty-net goals by Carey Terrance and Gabriel Frasca.
Schaefer finished with a pair of goals while Hughes and Terrance contributed a goal and an assist each. Both Sam Alfano and Malcolm Spence had two assists.
Dean said he thought Schenkel would probably like a couple of goals back, but added: “He also made five, six, seven or eight, five-star saves.”
