Otters rally, stop Hounds in OT
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Peter Wreschinsky
The captain of the Soo Greyhounds wasted no time in taking responsibility for a key miscue on Thursday.
Centre Bryce McConnell-Barker had the puck chipped past him, leading to an odd-man rush and the overtime winner.
Spencer Sova scored his second goal of the game just 44 seconds into OT, as the Erie Otters secured a 3-2 victory over the Hounds in front of 3,755 at Erie Insurance Arena.
“I’m taking ownership on that one,” said McConnell-Barker, whose club has dropped two straight in overtime and carries a 13-7-2-0 mark heading into Friday’s 7 p.m. start in Brantford. “I made a split decision to pinch and it was the wrong decision. It ultimately ended up with them scoring. It happened really fast and it’s definitely frustrating.”
Working along the right-wing boards, Erie’s Carey Terrance was able to send the puck past McConnell-Barker, allowing Malcolm Spence to skate in on a 2-on-1. Spence fed Sova, who was all alone in front for an easy tap-in on Charlie Schenkel.
“It happens,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, who spoke of there being no teaching moment involved with such a play. “(McConnell-Barker) took a risk, it didn’t work. He knows, he’s not happy about it.”
Dean appeared more concerned with the way his team played in the final period, letting a 2-1 lead get away, after controlling much of the play in the middle frame.
“We were passive,” said the coach, whose club also dropped a 5-4 OT decision to North Bay last Friday at GFL Memorial Gardens. “We were very timid in the third period.”
“We took our foot off the gas,” added winger Marco Mignosa, who, like McConnell-Barker, scored once in defeat.” We didn’t play a full 60 minutes and it cost us.”
Dean explained how, along with being passive, his club tried to force plays in the final frame.
“When you try to force plays and you’re playing with speed, good things can still happen,” the coach said. “But when you play passive and try to make cute plays, it never works out. We were in our 1-2-2 too much and trapping too much for my liking. And we need to bear down on our chances.”
Having dominated the second period, outshooting the home side 21-5, the Hounds began the final frame with a 2-1 advantage. However, rookie rearguard Spencer Evans was unable to control the puck near the Soo blue-line, and Spence sped in to score the tying goal.
Spence gobbled up the loose puck, went in alone and used a forehand-to-backhand move to beat Schenkel at the 6:35 mark.
The Soo had taken the lead following an Erie miscue. The Otters turned the puck over deep in their own zone and Mignosa pounced on the puck, before firing from the left circle. He beat Ben Gaudreau high to the glove-hand side at 11:24 of the middle frame for a 2-1 advantage.
Overall, Gaudreau was outstanding for the winners, who improved to 10-9-3-0.
The clubs traded power-play goals in the opening period. McConnell-Barker took a feed from Arttu Karki and scored from in front on the backhand at the 10:32 mark. Working with the man advantage, Sova tied the game six minutes later on a bit of a strange play.
His pass hit Sam Alfano and bounced right back to Sova, who had lots of room to score on the stick side. That made it 1-1. On a night when the Soo held a 41-33 edge in shots, Spence finished the game with a goal and an assist while Terrance added a pair of assists.
“We had shifts, mostly in the third period, when we went off script,” said Mignosa. “And it showed.”
As he lamented his team’s “inconsistency,” Dean offered some examples.
He talked of how impressive the power-play was, doing “an absolutely fantastic job,” leading up to the McConnell-Barker goal.
“Next time out, the power play is completely out of structure and we don’t go back to what’s working for us.”
In the second period, Dean said his team started slowly “but was absolutely dominant” after that.
The Soo was inconsistent in the final frame, leading Dean to say: “We need to stay with it for 60 minutes.”
The Greyhounds coach wasn’t pleased with Schenkel’s work against North Bay, but thought the veteran goalie gave his team a good chance to win against Erie.
“He had a really-good, bounce back game,” said Dean, whose club caps its trip with Sunday’s 4 p.m. start in Mississauga.
Meantime, the Bulldogs carry a 6-0-1-0 mark over their last seven games into Friday’s clash. Brantford is 10-7-3-1 overall.
“We have to play a full 60,” said McConnell-Barker, when asked to look ahead to Friday’s tilt. “We’ve proven we can do it. We need to find our swagger.”
