‘Pissed off’ Ivanov proves his worth
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
For netminder Samuel Ivanov, an unwanted rest turned into a celebrated return on Saturday.
Having not made a start in a month, the veteran goalie shone – especially when the outcome was in doubt – while helping lead the Soo Greyhounds to a 7-2 victory over the Oshawa Generals in front of 3,515 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“I thought he was the best player on the ice,” said head coach John Dean, whose club snapped a four-game losing streak, while improving to 18-27-9-6 with eight regular season games remaining. “The way he played was special. The first five minutes, we could have been down 2 or 3-0.”
That wasn’t the case, however, as Ivanov made a series of key stops in tight.
Ivanov “was great,” added winger Marco Mignosa, whose club failed to gain ground on the Kitchener Rangers (28-26-4-0), 3-0 winners over Owen Sound on Saturday. “He brought an energy to our lineup.”
Kitchener, with 10 games remaining on its schedule, remains nine points ahead in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
During a two-month period when Charlie Schenkel was sidelined with an upper-body injury, Ivanov started 23 consecutive games out of 24 overall.
But since returning on Feb. 3 in Sarnia, Schenkel had started 12 straight before Saturday.
“I was pissed off,” Ivanov said when asked about his time on the bench. “It was frustrating. Tonight, I wanted to come out and send message. I wanted to prove something. I wanted to show that I’m still battling with the team and we can still win games with me in net.”
On a night when the Soo held a 47-34 edge in shots, Dean said the Gens “had a ton of chances and he kept us in the game. I hadn’t played the guy since Schenkel came back. What a way for him to tell your coach to stick it.”
Asked if Ivanov had earned another start, Dean didn’t hesitate when he said: “Yes. I’m super impressed, super impressed with how he handled it.”
Ivanov thwarted quality scoring attempts by Luca D’Amato, Dylan Roobroeck and Joseph Serpa in the first 5:30, as the Generals, despite a series of injuries, got off to a fast start.
But the Greyhounds got things rolling their way when Jordan D’Intino ripped a shot from the right wing, which beat Jacob Oster high to the stick side at the 7:12 mark.
Five minutes later, Julian Fantino sped down the left wing before firing a shot from the face-off dot, eluding Oster high to the short side.
The home side made it 3-0 just over a minute later. Kalvyn Watson came out of the corner with the puck and was allowed to walk in, eventually beating the Oshawa goalie up high.
Generals head coach Derek Laxdal, whose team played minus four injured forwards, including leading scorers Ryan Gagnier and Calum Ritchie, and used three, 2006-birth year defencemen, said he thought the first three goals were “soft.”
While noting the injuries, Laxdal, whose club dropped to 24-29-1-5, also spoke of how “this wasn’t even a contest. It was a point-fest for that team, that’s all.”
In the second period, Christopher Brown executed a slick redirection of a Matthew Virgilio feed early in the frame to give the Soo a 4-0 lead.
D’Intino, Fantino and Watson all finished with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds, who had lost seven of their previous eight going into Saturday’s contest.
Owen Allard, playing in just his sixth game of the season, notched his first goal. Connor Toms and Justin Cloutier, with his 10th goal in 17 games, rounded out the scoring. Mignosa had three assists and Virgilio contributed a pair.
Tyler Graham and Ryder McIntyre, on the power play, were the only Oshawa shooters to beat Ivanov.
“I was very consistent in my practice habits and coming back was very natural,” said Ivanov, when asked how he managed to look so calm and confident.
Captain Bryce McConnell-Barker called the victory “great,” noting how he thinks the Hounds “have played well over our last stretch of games. So it’s really good to come out with a win.”
“The boys deserved the win,” added Mignosa, whose club entertains Sudbury on Wednesday (7:07 p.m.) at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Dean spoke of how happy he was to see his players rewarded.
“They needed it,” he began. “Our guys have been playing pretty-darn-good hockey over this stretch. I’m happy for them to be able to take a breath and enjoy.”
