RECAP; Greyhounds edged in goaltending duel
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Natalie Shaver
There’s something about playing in Saginaw that doesn’t agree with the Soo Greyhounds.
Dating back to the 2019-2020 season, the Hounds have dropped five straight in the Michigan city, including Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Spirit before 3,478 at Dow Event Center.
Saginaw rookie Calem Mangone’s eighth goal of the season at 13:54 of the final period decided a torrid goaltending battle between Saginaw’s Andrew Oke and the Soo’s Tucker Tynan.
Both made a number of key saves to stymie the opposition’s attack.
Oke “made some good saves. We had opportunities to bury shots, but we either fanned or missed the net and that obviously cost us,” said Hounds defenceman Rob Calisti, whose club’s streak of seven straight games (5-0-2-0) without a loss in regulation was snapped.
“Their goalie obviously played well. He stopped a lot of quality chances,” added Hounds rookie winger Marco Mignosa, who scored his team’s only goal. “But we have to bear down in the scoring areas, me included.”
Head coach John Dean spoke of how his team gave the Spirit too much space.
“We pride ourselves in being an aggressive team, being on top of pucks and taking away the other team’s options,” said Dean, whose club is slated to take a 16-10-2-0 record into Sunday’s 2:05 p.m. start in Sudbury.
It’s the first of two in the Nickel City with the teams also scheduled to square off at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
“As the game went on, we gave them a lot of ice to play with,” the coach added. “They started entering our zone easier and having some (offensive) zone time against us. Our style of play got away from us in the second and third.”
Saginaw took it to the Soo in the final frame, outshooting the Hounds 13-5 with the majority of the Spirit’s chances coming from in tight. Overall, the home side held a 30-26 edge in shots.
The Hounds dressed just 10 forwards and six defencemen – two short of the league’s maximum number. Of significance, Ryan O’Rourke and Tanner Dickinson have yet to return from the World Junior Championship and Cole MacKay is out with a lower body injury.
While Dean admitted fatigue was a “little bit of a factor,” he refused to give it much weight, noting how Saginaw skated with just four defencemen.
Despite being short-handed “we can win that hockey game. There’s no reason why not,” he added.
Fatigue “could be an easy excuse,” said Calisti. “But we lost the game on one shot.”
That ‘one’ shot was fired by Mangone, a Sault native, who was taken second overall in the 2021 Ontario Hockey League U18 Draft.
With the score tied 1-1, fellow Sault boy Cam Baber’s centering attempt rolled off the stick of Hounds defender Connor Toms right to Mangone. He beat Tynan in tight with 6:06 left in regulation for what proved to be the winner. Baber, the Spirit captain, finished with two assists.
Mignosa potted his seventh goal on a feed from Bryce McConnell-Barker as the duo skated in 2-on-0 at the :48 mark of the final period. Mignosa beat Oke high to the glove side.
Saginaw’s Matyas Sapovaliv opened the scoring at 19:58 of the first period when Baber shook the puck loose from behind the Soo goal and fed the rookie for his 10th goal of the season.
Oke was particularly effective in the opening period, stopping Hounds star Rory Kerins on a penalty shot and making a number of saves on his doorstep. The Spirit goalie also robbed Soo rookie Justin Cloutier, who made a beautiful individual effort to cut in alone at the 4:38 mark of the third period.
The victory for Oke was his second over the Hounds at home this season. He also shone in a 4-1 win over the Soo on Nov. 17 at Dow Event Center.
Tynan made sure the Hounds deficit stayed at one goal with a beautiful point-blank stop on Saginaw’s Nick Wong with 10 seconds to go in Period 2.
“Oke played well and Tucker played well,” said Dean. “(Saginaw) is a hard-working team. They competed very hard against us and they got rewarded for it.”
