Masterful Martin makes magic
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS
With the puck on their hottest scorer’s stick, the stars were properly aligned for the Soo Greyhounds on Wednesday.
Early in overtime, Brady Martin skated down the left wing, crossed over to the right side at the red-line, and fired from the top of the circle.
His shot hit the stick of Erie defenceman Matthew Schaefer and beat netminder Noah Erliden high to the blocker side.
“You’re thrilled, you’re fired up,” said Martin, when asked how it felt to score 14 seconds into OT, giving the Hounds a 4-3 victory over the Otters in front of 3,279 at GFL Memorial Gardens. “I feel great. This was one of my best games.”
It was also the first career hat trick for the Elmira, Ont., native, who has five goals and two assists in his last two games.
“The top corner was open and that’s what I was going for,” added the second-year centre. “The goalie wasn’t expecting a change-up there.”
“It went in off of Schaefer’s stick,” added Otters’ head coach Stan Butler, whose club fell to 10-5-2-1. “I watched the video twice. It’s just one of those things.”
In other words, there was little Schaefer, considered one of the elite prospects heading into the 2025 NHL draft, could do on the play.
“I liked the way Brady controlled the pace of the puck in overtime,” said head coach John Dean, whose team won its second straight, improving to 11-8-0-0 heading into Friday’s 7:07 p.m. home-ice start against Flint. “He slowed down through the neutral zone and that gave him an opportunity to exploit a gap and get a little space on the way in.”
Of the deflected shot, Dean said it’s “funny how you work that hard and make your own luck.”
The coach also called the 17-year-old “the best player on the ice, by far.”
And it wasn’t just Martin’s scoring prowess that caught Dean’s eye.
The coach estimated he had the six-foot, 180-pounder on the ice for roughly 28 minutes.
“I’m prouder of how he was dialed in. . . details, effort, compete,” Dean added. “There was a lot more to his game than just the three goals.”
Both Dean and Martin praised the player’s linemates: Travis Hayes and Justin Cloutier.
“I think the three of us together is a powerhouse line,” Martin offered.
Trailing 3-2 to begin the third period, the Hounds used the powerplay to tie the game.
Noel Nordh won the puck behind the Otters goal and fed Marco Mignosa on the right-wing boards.
He wasted no time in going across the ice to Martin in the left circle. And the Hounds standout ripped a one-timer past Erliden to make it 3-3 at the :30 mark.
“That was the best game we’ve played all season, by far,” Dean said of the Hounds performance. “It’s not even close. That’s the first game in which we’ve established a very clear identity. We played a fast-paced game, hunted pucks, competed whistle-to-whistle, defended hard and created offence.”
Cloutier, who contributed a pair of assists, agreed.
“I really feel from top to bottom, everyone played great,” he said. “We started strong and kept it up the entire game.”
On a night when the Soo held a 31-28 edge in shots, Cloutier also praised netminder Charlie Schenkel, saying the overage “was fantastic as always.”
Martin opened the scoring at 3:49 of the first period. On a 3-on-1 break, Cloutier made a slick feed to Martin, who rifled a shot past Erliden high on the glove side.
The Hounds were unable to gain control in their own zone and that led to the Otters first goal. Alexis Daviault beat Schenkel high to the glove side with a beautiful shot at 14:22 of the opening frame.
Nordh jammed one through Erliden’s pads at 8:05 of the middle frame to give the home side a 2-1 lead. But the Otters scored twice before the period ended to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
A poor clearing attempt led to a Dylan Edwards power-play marker at 10:01. And Schaefer used a slick, left-to-right deke on a breakaway with 50.7 seconds left in the frame to put the visitors ahead.
Nordh finished with a goal and an assist while Cloutier and Mignosa had two assists each. Mignosa has six assists over his last two games.
“I thought Johnny had his team working hard,” Butler said of Dean, his assistant coach when the two worked together in North Bay. “They outworked us from the drop of the puck. They were better in every part of the game. We weren’t sharp.”
Following the Flint clash on Friday, the Soo is slated to entertain Windsor on Sunday (2:07 p.m.).
Notes:
The Greyhounds welcomed injured forwards Brady Smith (upper body) and Sam Bowness (lower body) back to the lineup on Wednesday. Bowness fought Erie’s Nicholas Holomego and scored a clear-cut decision.
But overage Owen Allard and fellow forwards Christopher Brown and Charlie Hilton remain sidelined with upper-body injuries.
