Power play fails to deliver in Soo setback
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Sudbury Wolves
A serious forensic investigation would need to be launched to find positives in the Soo Greyhounds power play this season.
On Wednesday in Sudbury the Hounds were 0-for-5 – including on a five-minute, man-advantage opportunity early in the third period – in what was eventually a 3-1 loss to the Wolves in front of 2,385 at Sudbury Community Arena.
That dropped the Soo to just 1-for-28 on the power play in eight games this season, 20th in the 20-team OHL.
“It’s very frustrating. . . we definitely have to fix the power play,” said captain Caeden Carlisle.
The power play “could be costing us games,” added winger Justin Cloutier, who spoke of the importance of the Greyhounds finding ways to overcome their man-advantage struggles.
Head coach John Dean, whose club had its two-game win streak snapped, spoke of how the power- play unit looks too much like a group of individuals.
“You have to have a game plan on the power play and be creative within that game plan,” said Dean. “But we don’t work hard enough for loose pucks. Goals on the power play are primarily off of retrievals and grabbing dirty pucks off entries and we don’t do that.”
The Hounds bench boss, whose team carries a 3-5-0-0 mark into Friday’s 7:07 p.m. home start against Flint, went on to lament how his club is losing almost every offensive-zone face-off on the power play.
Overall, the Wolves won 44 draws to the Hounds 23.
“We have no sets,” Dean continued. “We can’t teach a structured power play if you can’t get set up and you don’t want to earn possession of the puck. We have a group of guys who are trying to learn how to play on the power play. Did I think it would be this slow? No.”
Particularly galling for the coach was the way in which his PP unit performed early in the third period.
With the home side already shorthanded and nursing a 2-1 lead, Sudbury’s Blake Clayton was assessed a five-minute match penalty for slew-footing at the 20:00 mark of the second period.
The Soo had a 5-on-3 for the first 33 seconds of the final frame, followed by another 4:27 while skating 5-on-4.
However, the Hounds could manage just a single shot on goal.
“Special teams had the puck on their stick to tie it, win it, and we didn’t do it,” Dean said. “We didn’t shoot a puck, not a single puck over 33 seconds on the 5-on-3. That shows our inexperience.”
Starting the third period with a five-minute power play “you’re looking to capitalize once, maybe twice,” said Carlisle. “Sudbury gained a bunch of energy off of that.”
Asked about reversing the power-play woes, the Hounds captain talked about how he and his teammates “need better execution. We need to win more 50-50 battles. We need to be hungrier.”
Brady Martin has the Greyhounds lone power-play goal this season, scoring on opening night in a 6-4 loss to Saginaw.
“You have to work harder on the power play than you do playing 5-on-5,” Dean added. “It’s not all about the fun stuff on the power play. It’s about the dirty stuff, too.”
Sudbury opened the scoring just 1:30 into the opening period when Charlie Schenkel got his glove on a shot by Brayden Bruce, but couldn’t control the rebound. Alex Pharand banged the puck home for his first of two on the night.
Cloutier tied the score after the Greyhounds took advantage of a neutral zone turnover by the Wolves. Justin DeZoete fed Martin, who found Cloutier on the right wing.
The Ottawa native completed the slick, three-way pass play by going high to the glove side on Wolves netminder Finn Marshall.
Cloutier’s fifth goal of the season made it 1-1 at the 4:28 mark.
On a night when the Wolves out-played the Hounds and outshot them 37-20, Kieron Walton made it 2-1 on the power play midway through the second period.
Schenkel couldn’t handle a shot from the right point and attempted to cover the loose puck at the side of the goal. But Walton grabbed it and banked it in off of a prone Schenkel to put Sudbury ahead to stay.
The Hounds had a chance to tie the game late. But Travis Hayes was whistled off for tripping at 17:01 and Andrew Gibson took a slashing minor at 18:50.
That set the stage for Pharand’s empty-net, power-play goal at 19:41.
Asked about the late penalties, Dean said: “I’m very disappointed, very disappointed. There was no reason for either (penalty).”
For the second straight game, Schenkel stopped a penalty shot, this time thwarting the Wolves Nathan Villeneuve.
Despite having trouble controlling rebounds on the two goals he allowed, Dean said the overage “gave us a chance to win.”
Following the Flint clash on Friday, the Hounds are home to Sarnia on Sunday (2:07 p.m.).
