Mignosa offers ‘world-class performance’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Tom Martineau @tommer70
A three-goal game is certainly one to be celebrated.
But how about scoring three times in just one period?
“Awesome feeling for sure,” said winger Marco Mignosa, who achieved the feat on Thursday, helping power the Soo Greyhounds to a 7-4 victory over the North Bay Battalion in front of 2,304 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
Having registered his first OHL hat trick, Mignosa described his performance as “pretty cool. It doesn’t happen often, so I’m just enjoying the moment.”
“Marco is a leader who is sick and tired of losing,” added head coach John Dean, whose team began a three-game trip by snapping an 0-3-0-1 stretch, while improving to 20-27-1-1. “I think he decided to take matters into his own hands and put in a world-class performance tonight.”
Hounds centre Brady Martin, who skated alongside Mignosa, used one word in particular to describe the Vaughan, Ont., native.
“Phenomenal,” said Martin, who notched two goals and an assist to complement Mignosa’s three-goal-one-assist effort. “Playing on his line is the easiest thing ever. He finds little pockets on the ice and makes easy plays.”
The victory moved the eighth-place Greyhounds four points up on ninth-place Owen Sound (16-26-3-3) and seven points clear of 10th-place Guelph (14-26-4-3) in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Soo also crept to within three points of seventh-place Sarnia (18-21-3-6).
The Hounds are idle on Friday, before visiting Barrie on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Oshawa on Sunday (2:05 p.m.).
Mignosa’s biggest goal came on the power play at 15:21 of the second period.
It came less than a minute-and-a-half after the Battalion had a goal disallowed due to being offside.
That tally, had it counted, would have tied the contest 3-3.
Instead, with his team’s 3-2 advantage restored, Mignosa took a feed from Noel Nordh at his own blue-line, before crossing into North Bay territory.
He split a pair of defenders and beat Mike McIvor with a low backhander on the stick side.
Going up 4-2 surely gave the visitors a boost.
“That was huge, especially given the way we’ve struggled with leads over the last little while,” said Dean, whose club was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes and entered the final frame with a 5-2 advantage.
The fifth goal was also courtesy of Mignosa.
Just 1:21 after scoring for the second time, the 19-year-old (2005 birth year) made it 5-2 with a short-handed marker.
Martin forced a turnover at the Hounds blue-line, went in with Mignosa on a 2-on-1 and fed the winger on the left side of the ice.
The Hounds top points producer (22-30-52) didn’t get a lot on the shot, but it was just enough for the puck to slide past McIvor low on the stick side.
Mignosa’s 22nd goal, which tied his career high, completed his hat trick and gave the visitors a three-goal cushion.
Turns out, they would need it.
After Martin’s power-play goal – the Soo’s third of the evening – made it 6-2, Bronson Ride scored his second goal of the game and Ethan Procyszyn beat Landon Miller high to the stick side at 17:07 of the third, trimming the Soo’s lead to 6-4.
Making his first start since Jan. 17, Miller appeared rusty. The Barrie native got the start after Nolan Lalonde “tweaked” something in his lower body in warmups, said Dean. “We didn’t play Nolan for precautionary reasons.”
Into an empty net, Martin’s second goal of the game and 21st of the season capped the scoring.
Mignosa’s first goal hit his skate and was deflected in by a North Bay defender.
That gave the Soo a 3-1 lead at 3:30 of Period No. 2.
Brady T. Smith, on the power play, and Travis Hayes, redirecting a Hunter Solomon shot, had the other goals for the winners, who held a 35-23 edge in shots.
Hayes finished with a goal and two assists and drew praise from Dean, who called the second-year player’s performance “great.”
So did Nordh, who contributed three assists.
“Over the last three games, he’s been steadily improving. His compete level is increasingly significantly,” the coach said of Nordh.
Chase Reid added a pair of assists while Jacob LeBlanc, on the power play, had the other Battalion goal. Ride’s first goal was a short-handed marker on a night when North Bay fell to 18-26-3-0.
“This was a huge win,” Martin said. “We had a game plan in mind and we stuck with it.”
Dean said he was “very proud of Miller” for the job he did, starting on short notice. “For him to perform the way he did was quite impressive.”
When asked, the coach said he wasn’t sure whether Lalonde would be ready to play on Saturday.
Meantime, Hounds centre Owen Allard and winger Charlie Hilton, both with upper-body injuries, missed the game.
Feeling ill and bothered by an upper-body injury, forward Chris Brown didn’t make the road trip.
