RECAP; First period fireworks power Hounds to Game 2 win
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Saturday’s game began at 7:07 p.m. and the lift-off for the Soo Greyhounds was mere moments later.
A rocket start proved critical for the Hounds en route to opening a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven, Western Conference quarter-finals.
After pressuring the Guelph Storm in the early minutes, the Hounds proceeded to score twice in 44 seconds and three times in a span of 4:51, eventually beating the Storm 4-1 before 4,071 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“The start is huge in the playoffs. It sets the tone for the rest of the game,” said defenceman Jack Thompson, whose club was a 3-1 winner on Thursday and will try to take that momentum into Game 3 of the series on Tuesday (7 p.m) at Sleeman Centre in Guelph. “Especially in the arena tonight, there was a big crowd and our start was big emotionally.”
“The start definitely set the tone,” added fellow rearguard Ryan O’Rourke, whose club again received strong netminding from veteran Tucker Tynan. “We knew Guelph would come back with a push in Game 2. But we responded well to counter them.”
An early eruption was something the Greyhounds stressed in their pre-game preparation.
“We emphasized it very strongly in the room,” said head coach John Dean, whose club was much more assertive offensively on Saturday, spurred by effective rushes through the neutral zone. “To their credit, our guys came out very hard. We wanted a push and I think we accomplished that.”
At the 9:45 mark, with Guelph captain Brayden Guy off for high-sticking, Thompson was allowed to skate in from the point and fire one past netminder Jacob Oster from the top of the right circle. Thompson’s wicked slapper beat Oster high to the blocker side and the home team was in business.
“Just walking down Broadway – I had a lot of space,” said Thompson, who spoke of how much importance the opening goal in a playoff game carries.
At 10:29, Justin Cloutier sent the puck to the net and an innocent play turned into a second Soo goal. Oster misplayed the shot, which trickled in on the short side.
Tyler Savard made it 3-0 at 13:36 taking the rebound of a Rory Kerins shot and lifting it over Oster’s right pad. Savard created the opportunity by out-racing a Guelph defender to the front of the net.
Before the period ended, the Storm notched a power-play goal, but in the end, a three-goal deficit proved too much to overcome.
Off a face-off, Jake Karabela pounced on a bouncing puck and beat Tynan high to the blocker side at the 15:08 mark.
Dean spoke of the strange bounce the puck took and how O’Rourke “got a little bit unlucky,” while having his stick lifted by a Storm player.
Storm head coach George Burnett talked about how the Hounds early pace was impressive.
“They stretched us out,” he added. “I didn’t like our start, obviously. But I liked our last 40 minutes. I think we can take some positives from that.”
On a night when his team held a 42-31 edge in shots, Tynan stood tall, later saying he feels he’s in a groove.
“Yeah, 100 per cent,” he added. “I didn’t give up a lot of rebounds. A lot of shots were from the outside and I think I did a good job of controlling them.”
Tynan credited his teammates for boxing out, back-checking, blocking shots and battling for pucks.
“The biggest thing is trusting your teammates,” he added. “They’re going to do their jobs and I just have to take care of the basics.”
“He was brilliant tonight. Those were back-to-back games of brilliant hockey by Tucker Tynan,” gushed Dean.
After protecting a 3-1 lead for most of the game, the Hounds sealed the contest with an empty-net marker by Marco Mignosa with 2:19 remaining.
In all, 10 Hounds found their way onto the scoresheet with no one registering multiple points.
For the second straight night, a veteran Hounds defenceman was assessed a 10-minute misconduct. O’Rourke was whistled off in Game 1 and overage Rob Calisti drew a misconduct after taking a roughing minor at 7:30 of the middle stanza.
When asked about it, Dean spoke of how he’s “really glad both of those guys got it out of the way early in the playoffs. It’s a learning experience for everyone.”
The coach also agreed he doesn’t “want guys in the box. We need Rob on the ice, he’s too good a hockey player.”
As for Game 3, Burnett lamented how “if our 16-and-17-year-olds kids are going to be our most-competitive and hardest working guys, it’ll be a short series. As a group, we need more from our older forwards.”
Veteran defenceman Luka Profaca left the game in the third period with an upper-body injury and didn’t return to the ice.
Burnett spoke of how important Profaca is, while saying he had no information on the severity of the player’s injury.
“On to the next one,” said Dean, when asked about Tuesday’s clash. “We’re just focused on winning one game.”
“Our relentless play and hard work are getting us paid right now,” added O’Rourke, who also praised his team’s work on the forecheck.
Game 3 is obviously a big one, noted veteran forward Keegan McMullen.
“In the playoffs, you’re never in trouble until you lose at home. So we have to go in there and steal a game or two.”
Game 4 is slated for Thursday, also at 7 p.m.
If a fifth game is needed, it’s set for Saturday (7:07) in the Sault.
Notes:
Greyhounds winger Kalvyn Watson served the third-and-final game of a league-imposed suspension on Saturday.
The Peterborough, Ont., native was handed a match penalty for high-sticking in the second-to-last game of the regular season against Flint.
He’s eligible to return Tuesday in Guelph.
