Rangers blank Hounds as Knights draw closer
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Hailey Tripodi @HRTPhoto
Unable to generate enough quality chances on Friday, the Soo Greyhounds learned what the rest of the OHL has been experiencing: The Kitchener Rangers are an outstanding defensive team.
Jack Pridham scored twice, including an empty-netter, and Christian Kirsch provided shutout netminding as the Rangers stopped the Hounds 3-0 in front of 7,320 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
It marked the Rangers first victory over the Soo in four tries this season.
“We have to score goals,” said Greyhounds winger Marco Mignosa, who agreed his team didn’t produce enough chances. “It’s pretty simple when you lose 3-0. I don’t think we had enough chances. We need to be more net hungry, get to the net, get dirty and bare down when the chances come.”
“We definitely needed more quality chances,” added captain Brady Martin, whose club was outshot in all three periods and 37-25 overall. “You’re not going to score on every chance. If you generate more, the more chances you’ll have to score.”
Head coach John Dean spoke of how his club “battled like crazy tonight,” disagreeing with the premise his team’s offence was suppressed by the Rangers.
“We generated a lot of chances in the first and we were shorthanded for the entire second period,” said Dean, whose club, fourth in the Western Conference, fell to 36-19-1-5, just a single point ahead of fifth-place London (36-21-4-1), a 10-2 winner over Erie on Friday.
By finishing in the top four, the Soo, with a game in hand on the Knights, would have home ice for at least the first round of the conference playoffs.
“Some of the stuff in the second period was difficult to swallow,” Dean said when asked about the visitors taking five of seven minor penalties – including three to Martin – in the middle frame. “Brady Martin takes 10 punches to the head, he’s defenseless and the opposition gets two minutes?”
As he went hard to the net and collided with Kirsch, Martin was lying face down on the ice, protecting himself while being punched repeatedly by defenceman Matthew Andonovski. The Hounds centre was whistled off for goaltender interference and roughing at 6:55. Andonovski was also called for roughing.
If that didn’t bother Dean enough, what happened next surely did. In a confusing sequence, Martin returned to the ice after two minutes and was penalized for leaving the box early at 9:46.
Dean spoke of how Martin’s jersey number (44) was listed on the scoreboard twice and how the player returned to the ice when he saw his time (for one of the minor penalties) run out.
“We got penalized for an administrative error. It was an awkward night. Some of those are difficult to swallow,” Dean said.
Asked what explanation he was given by the referee, Dean said it was explained to him that Martin was told by the penalty box administrator not to go out on the ice.
“I guess we have to take their word,” the coach added. “But why would you have his number on the board twice?”
Asked about the penalty confusion, Martin said: “No comment. That’s the ref’s job. Maybe it was a penalty, maybe it wasn’t.”
When he was questioned about the officiating, Mignosa said: “I’ve got nothing to say.”
Dean and Mignosa spoke of how being on the PK, including a 5-on-3 for the full two minutes, created fatigue that became a factor later in the game.
The Soo had a pair of power-play opportunities in the third when the outcome was still in doubt. Not only did they fail to challenge Kirsch sufficiently, the Hounds allowed a short-handed tally that gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 3:37.
Grabbing a Hounds turnover at his own blue-line, Sam O’Reilly moved down the left wing and fired from the dot, beating netminder Carter George, who was a standout in defeat.
Jack Pridham opened the scoring on a 3-on-2 break at 3:42 of the opening frame. O’Reilly made a slick feed from the right wing and Pridham redirected it through the five-hole. Pridham capped the scoring with a late empty-net tally.
However, were it not for George – “He was unbelievable,” said Dean – the game would not have been as close.
“We have to score,” Mignosa said of his club’s power-play chances. “We had to get one. But they smothered us pretty well.”
The Soo was 0-for-3 with the man advantage while the Rangers were 0-for-5.
“Our powerplay wasn’t good enough,” added Martin. “We can’t give up a shorty. We have to do better.”
After winning their seventh in a row, improving to 44-12-4-2, the conference-leading Rangers head coach, Jussi Ahokas, credited his club’s defence.
“We were very good defensively,” Ahokas said on the RogersTV post-game show. “We didn’t give up many chances and we got the job done. This was a really solid hockey game for our club.”
Flint was also a winner on Friday, stopping Sarnia 3-1. The Firebirds are second in the conference, nine points ahead of the Hounds. Idle Windsor, sitting third, leads the Soo by seven points. The Spits also have a game in hand.
The Hounds trip wraps up on Saturday with a 4:07 p.m. start in Guelph.
“Let’s hit the reset button and have a good game tomorrow,” Dean said.
Notes:
The Greyhounds were missing two players, Brodie McConnell-Barker and Justin Cloutier, due to illness. But during the radio pregame show, Dean said Cloutier “would be good to go” on Saturday.
