Kartye connects to spark resilient Greyhounds
Story by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
The Soo Greyhounds stared down adversity, before turning it into opportunity on Thursday.
After trailing 2-0 in the opening period, the Hounds scored four power-play goals – three by Tye Kartye – en route to a 6-3 victory over the Barrie Colts before 2,066 at Sadlon Arena.
“This shows a lot of character. We battled back really hard,” said Kartye, who notched his first career hat trick in the Hounds first road game of the new season and first game away from GFL Memorial Gardens since March 6, 2020. “I’m really proud of the team.”
“I think this is awesome,” said fellow overage Cole MacKay, who contributed a power-play goal and three assists. “This early, you don’t know how the young guys will respond.”
That question was answered after the Soo surrendered goals just 10 seconds into the game, and with 35 seconds to go in the first period.
“We have great leadership,” said Kartye, whose club improved to 2-1-0-0 heading into Friday’s 7:30 p.m. start in Guelph. “The group was really strong tonight (Thursday) and it showed.”
Oskar Olausson got the home side on the board quickly, skating in on a breakaway and – with the puck slipping off of his stick – beating Hounds netminder Samuel Ivanov before either team had a chance to break a sweat.
Then, at 19:25 of the first frame, Ethan Cardwell redirected a Nate Allensen shot to make it 2-0. Barrie skated off having outshot the Soo 16-7.
“I thought the response was great,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose club finished an impressive, four-for-six with the man advantage on a night when the Soo was outshot 36-28 overall. “I was impressed with how our leadership group kept the team calm.”
During the first intermission, “there wasn’t a lot of panic in our group. I thought we took over in the second period,” he added.
Rookie rearguard Luc Brzustowski, with his first career goal, got the visitors started at the :59 mark of Period No. 2.
Kartye, off a quick pass from MacKay, tied the game 2-2 with a power-play marker at 11:25 of the middle stanza.
The contest turned early in the third when the Hounds won a challenge after Ethan Cardwell deposited a rebound past Ivanov.
The potential go-ahead goal, at 3:06, was waved off due to goaltender interference.
Dean credited the club’s new video analyst and director of analytics, who was watching the game from a perch above the benches.
“Ryan Dumoulin called it down,” the coach explained. “He took a pretty-aggressive stance on it and told us we had to make the challenge.”
Dean went on to note how “Dumoulin gets all the credit.”
Seemingly buoyed by that turn of events, the Soo proceeded to score back-to-back, power-play markers in a span of 14 seconds.
A high-sticking, double minor assessed to Barrie’s Ryan Del Monte at the 2:36 mark of the period wound up doing the Colts in.
Kartye, off of a face-off, made it 3-2 at 3:27, before MacKay redirected a Rory Kerins feed behind Barrie netminder Matthew Sbrocca at the 3:41 mark.
Considering all that, the challenge, Dean added, was “obviously a huge turning point in the game.”
On the power play, Barrie’s Jacob Frasca trimmed his team’s deficit to 4-3 nine minutes into the third, before Kartye capped his hat trick nine minutes later.
In the final minute, rookie centre Bryce McConnell-Barker, who had an earlier assist, scored his first OHL goal into an empty net.
Kerins finished with a pair of assists, while winning 16 of 24 face-offs.
Questioned about his three-goal showing, Kartye agreed he was left pinching himself, but noted: “The win is the more exciting part.”
Brzustowki called his first career goal “a relief, honestly. I just jumped in from the point and tried to put the shot through.”
Asked about the power play, Dean praised assistant coach Jamie Tardif and the players, but also noted how the club’s penalty-killing units were strong.
As for Ivanov, making his third straight start, the coach spoke of being impressed with how his netminder bounced back after getting scored on at the :10 mark.
“He rallied the rest of the game. That was pretty impressive,” said Dean, whose club is also set to visit Owen Sound on Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. start. “I thought Sammy played great.”
Overall, the coach liked the way his charges “looked like a team that had purpose and knew what it needed to accomplish.”
Notes: The Hounds whittled their overage complement to three on Thursday, announcing they had traded winger Joe Carroll to Peterborough and removed centre Alex Johnston from their roster after he had cleared waivers.
In exchange for Carroll, the Hounds received third-round and 12th-round draft choices, along with a conditional sixth-round selection.
General manager Kyle Raftis wished Carroll, a native of Carp, Ont., all the best with the Petes.
“I’m expecting big things from myself and want to do whatever it takes to push the Petes to the next step, I’m really excited,” Carroll said in a press release.
Asked about Johnston, a native of Stittsville, Ont., Raftis said the Hounds “hoped something would have opened up for him,” while noting how tight the market was when it came to trying to move overage players, and find them a place to play.
“He was great about it,” Raftis said of Johnston. “He’s going to take a few days to see what he wants to do next.”
