No ‘work of art’ for Greyhounds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Todd Boone (Flint Firebirds) – Meaninful Moments Photography LLC
There wasn’t much for the Soo Greyhounds to like – including the outcome – when it came to paying a visit to Flint on Wednesday.
Sluggish, especially over the first two periods, the Hounds rallied before dropping a 4-3 shootout decision to the Firebirds in front of 2,435 at Dort Financial Centre.
“It was a tough night,” said Greyhounds head coach John Dean.
Former Greyhound Connor Clattenburg beat netminder Landon Miller for the only successful shootout attempt as the Firebirds (29-30-3-1) clinched a Western Conference playoff berth.
Despite surrendering the deciding goal, Miller was brilliant after coming on in relief of Charlie Schenkel.
“It definitely wasn’t a work of art, that’s for sure,” added Dean, whose club was bottled up by the Firebirds and managed a very uncharacteristic total of just 12 shots over the first 40 minutes. “We’re going to have games like that. No one’s (overly) disappointed. There’s not much more to say about it than that.”
Heading into a Friday clash in London (7 p.m.), the Soo (42-16-3-2) remains unbeaten in regulation over its last nine games, posting a 7-0-1-1 record.
And while the single point moves the Greyhounds to within five points of Saginaw (46-15-1-1) in the race for top spot in the West Division, time is running out. Both clubs have five regular season games remaining and the Spirit holds the tie-breaker (regulation and overtime victories combined).
Asked about the Hounds performance, former Firebirds star Gavin Hayes said: “I thought it was average. That words covers it all.”
But average isn’t good enough for a Soo team determined to be at its best once playoffs begin.
“We’ll have to be a lot better than we were tonight,” Hayes agreed. “We didn’t get out-worked. But we need to give more.”
Jack Beck, who scored twice off of feeds by Hayes, spoke of how the chance to clinch a playoff berth made Wednesday “a massive game” for Flint. “They had a lot of fuel and energy going into it.”
The Greyhounds had trouble matching that intensity. Beck spoke of how he and his teammates “knew we had to get energy going,” while trying to give each other a boost on the bench.
When asked, the overage winger said: “I just don’t think we were on our game plan. We weren’t sticking to our systems as much. We got away from them a little bit.”
But trailing 3-1, Beck’s shot from the high slot eluded Flint goaltender Nathan Day for a power-play goal at 17:19 of the second period. In the final frame, Brady Martin found Julian Fantino alone in front. Fantino chipped the puck over Day to tie the game 3-3 with 8:11 left in regulation.
On the shootout goal, Clattenburg, part of the deal that brought Hayes to the Greyhounds, beat Miller high to the glove side.
Nathan Aspinall beat Schenkel on a wrap-around to open the scoring at 4:04 of the first period.
Beck tied it eight minutes later on a feed from Hayes, following a Clattenburg turnover. The shot from the slot eluded Day on the stick side.
Just over three minutes later, Tristan Bertucci gave the home side a 2-1 lead going high to the stick side of Schenkel from just inside the blue-line.
The Firebirds, who outshot the Hounds 28-24 overall, bumped their lead to 3-1 when Matthew Wang scored another wrap-around goal at 6:06 of the second period. That brought an end to Schenkel’s night as Miller came on.
“Charlie has to be much better,” said Dean, whose club concludes its road trip on Saturday in Owen Sound (7 p.m.).
Asked about Miller, who stopped all 20 of the shots he faced in regulation and overtime, the coach was impressed.
“He gave us a chance to get a point. He gave us a chance to get two points,” Dean said. “He comes on in relief and does a fantastic job.”
Notes:
London (46-14-1-3) beat Erie 5-1 on Wednesday to take over top spot in the Western Conference by two points over Saginaw. The Knights lead the Hounds by seven points.
Owen Allard and Marco Mignosa returned to the Soo lineup on Wednesday. Both had been out with upper-body injuries.
