Not a big surprise: Greyhounds, Spirit will play seven
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
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A series with the ups and downs of a roller-coaster ride is going to Game 7.
Facing elimination on Sunday, the Soo Greyhounds were dominant – especially in the second period – and desperate. No only that, Charlie Schenkel posted his second straight shutout on home ice.
The result was a 5-0 victory over the Saginaw Spirit in front of 4,918 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“It’s the result of character,” said head coach John Dean, whose team evened the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal at 3-3, forcing a deciding game on Tuesday (7:05 p.m.) at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw. “We believe that over seven games, when we work and compete and continue to wear that team down, we’ll find success.”
The Hounds won all four regular season games they played in Saginaw this season, before going 1-2 in the Michigan city in this series. Tuesday’s winner advances to face the London Knights in the conference final, a series that will begin on Friday at Budweiser Gardens.
As of Sunday night, the rest of the dates hadn’t been finalized.
“There was no way we were going to lose tonight, not with our backs against the wall,” said winger Gavin Hayes, who notched a pair of power-play goals. “Our forecheck was really good and they really don’t want to get hit at all. I think they’re wearing down.”
“We all said: ‘This isn’t going to be our last game together,” said winger Jack Beck, when asked about how his team approached what was an elimination contest for the home side.
Beck, who contributed a goal and two assists, was also asked what he sensed from his teammates in the moments leading up to Sunday’s game.
“Excitement,” said the overage, who played in his second straight game after missing seven straight with an upper-body injury. “We had no stress going into the game. We were just excited and ready to go.”
Spirit head coach Chris Lazary spoke of how he thought his team looked “a little nervous,” as they attempted to close out the Hounds.
He also talked about how, by finishing ahead of the Soo in the regular season, his club earned the right to play Game 7 at home.
“We have to play faster, we have to play harder, we have to find a way to get to the inside a little bit more,” Lazary added. “We have to be a little desperate. The one thing the Hounds had tonight was they were desperate needing a win to stay alive.”
The coach talked of how he didn’t think his club had that same level of desperation on Sunday.
“But we’ll have it in Game 7,” he added.
The Soo opened the scoring with 5.2 seconds left in the opening period when the Spirit failed to kill off the remaining time.
After the Hounds lost the offensive-zone face-off with 11.9 seconds remaining, Beck won the puck along the left-wing boards as Saginaw failed to clear. Beck fed Jacob Frasca in the left circle and the overage ripped a shot past Nolan Lalonde on the glove side.
“By far, the most-important goal of the series, in my opinion,” offered Dean. “I give a lot of credit to (assistant coach) Tyler Ertel,” who implored the head coach to put Frasca on the ice in that situation.
“Obviously, it’s deflating,” said Lazary. “I thought we needed to make a better decision with the puck in that moment.”
Beck made it 2-0 at 4:02 of the second when Christopher Brown outbattled two Spirit players, winning the puck in the offensive zone. He fed Beck cutting into the slot and his shot beat Lalonde five-hole.
Exactly two minutes later, Hayes notched his first of the night with the man advantage. From the left point, Beck found Hayes, who beat his man to the front of the net. The Westland, Mich., native had a tap-in to make it 3-0.
Ten minutes later, also on the power play, Bryce McConnell-Barker found Hayes in front of the goal and the veteran winger slid it home for a 4-0 lead. The goal was No. 6 of the postseason for Hayes.
Marco Mignosa, on a slick individual effort, cut in alone on Lalonde and lifted one high to the stick side on the backhand to make it 5-0.
The goal came at 19:41 of the middle frame.
Frasca finished with a goal and an assist while Bryce McConnell-Barker added a pair of helpers.
On a night when the Soo held a 34-24 edge in shots, Schenkel made his biggest save by robbing Hunter Haight in the final period.
“I felt great and I felt the team played great in front of me,” Schenkel said.
Serenaded by fans a number of times with shouts of ‘Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,’ the veteran goalie spoke of how that experience “was pretty cool. I feel as if the Sault has the most supportive fans in the OHL.”
The Hounds penalty-killers blanked the visitors on five, man-advantage chances. Typically dangerous, Saginaw is just 3-for-27 on the power play in this series.
“We have to score on the high-danger chances we create on the power play,” Lazary said.
Asked about the key to Tuesday’s clash, Dean spoke of how “this game means nothing if we don’t take care of Game 7. The key is just playing for the guy beside you.”
“We just need to keep doing the same things we did tonight,” added winger Jordan D’Intino, who has five goals in six games in this series. “Winning puck battles will be critical.”
Beck was asked about his level of confidence heading into Game 7.
“I’m as confident as I was today,” he answered. “I’m confident in my teammates, our goaltender, our forwards and our D. And our coaching staff has been the best support system all season.”
Spirit defenceman Zayne Parekh appeared to fall awkwardly after battling for a puck with Mignosa at 11:45 of the second period. He needed help leaving the ice and didn’t return.
Lazary refused comment when asked about Parekh.
Another rearguard, James Guo, was tagged with a five-minute major for slashing at 14:36 of the final period. His status for Game 7 isn’t certain.
Notes:
The Spirit played Sunday minus its captain, defenceman Braden Hache. He served the second of a two-game suspension for slew-footing and is eligible to return on Tuesday.
Goaltender Andrew Oke remains out with what’s believed to be an upper-body injury. He was injured in Game 2 following a collision with McConnell-Barker.
Hounds general manager Kyle Raftis said Sunday the OHL admitted mistakes on two calls in Saginaw’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Hounds in Game 5.
During discussions with the league, Raftis said he was told Owen Allard should have been rewarded with a goal on his drive to the net on a breakaway at 13:12 of the third period Friday. The Hounds centre was hauled down by Saginaw’s Owen Beck and rewarded with a penalty shot, which was stopped by netminder Lalonde. However, the puck rolled over the goal-line as Allard slid toward the net.
The OHL also informed Raftis a two-minute minor for cross-checking, handed to Parekh at 11:38 of the first period, should have been a five-minute major.
Parekh appeared to hit Soo winger Travis Hayes in the back of the helmet. The five-minute major the league admits should have been assessed, would have knocked the star rearguard out of the remainder of Game 5. He also would have faced the possibility of supplemental punishment in the form of a suspension.