RECAP; Spits sweep before leaving Sault
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Not to seem rude, but after playing host to the Windsor Spitfires for a couple of days, the Soo Greyhounds were thrilled to see their guests leave town.
With the Hounds plagued by sloppy play – “Saying we’re embarrassed is an understatement,” said defenceman Jacob Holmes – their visitors scored three times in a span of 1:08 in the second period on Sunday.
That snapped a 3-3 tie, and proved more than enough in a 10-4 victory over the Hounds in an empty GFL Memorial Gardens.
Coupled with Windsor’s 5-2 win here on Saturday, the Spits (16-9-2-2) have crept to within two points of the first-place Hounds (18-12-2-0) in the Ontario Hockey League’s West Division. Windsor also has three games in hand.
“That was brutal all around,” said defenceman Rob Calisti, whose club was especially ineffective in the second and third periods. “It’s pretty obvious to say we’re embarrassed. This is the worst feeling we’ve had this season.”
In the quiet of the home dressing room – where you could have heard a win drop – Holmes spoke how “simple mistakes cost us and ended up in the back of the net every time.”
The Spitfires, Holmes added, “capitalized on their opportunities and we gave them Grade A chances.”
“That game is for first place and that’s a team that handled us pretty well (on Saturday),” said head coach John Dean. “You’d like to see a real good response today, and to watch your division rival put up 10, it’s very, very disappointing.”
The Spitfires broke a 3-3 tie and went ahead for good at 5:01 of the second period. Michael Renwick redirected a Will Cuylle shot that beat Tucker Tynan up high to make it 4-3.
Just 53 seconds later, Ethan Miedema took a rebound off the end boards and backhanded it past Tynan on the short side.
The Soo goalie was replaced by Samuel Ivanov at that point, but the first-year man had little time to settle in.
The Spits converted a 2-on-1 at 6:09 to make it 6-3. Louka Henault fed Ryan Abraham who beat Ivanov on the backhand following a left to right move.
Dean said he thought both Soo goalies would probably want the game back.
After surrendering the Renwick goal, “we got down on ourselves and then it snowballed, and that can’t happen,” Holmes said.
Down the hallway, Spits head coach Marc Savard spoke of the character he sees from his players.
“The thing I was most proud of was not the 10 goals,” said Savard, whose club held a 36-30 edge in shots. “It’s the way we played all day. We didn’t change a thing, we didn’t cheat, we played the right way.”
Windsor started Matt Onuska, but pulled the goalie after Rory Kerins rifled home his 19th to tie the score 3-3 at 15:34 of the opening period.
Xavier Medina, a standout on Saturday, came in and settled things down the rest of the way.
“X has been really good lately, unbelievable,” said Savard, whose club is 8-1 over its last nine starts.
After combining for eight points on Saturday, Windsor’s big line was again dominant in Game 2.
Cuylle had two goals, including one on the power play, and two assists while Matthew Maggio and Wyatt Johnston finished with a goal and three assists each.
“Kudos to them,” Savard said. “They bring it every night.”
But while Windsor’s best players were their best players this weekend, the Hounds couldn’t say the same thing.
“That Johnston line is a heck of a line,” Dean said, while admitting his top forwards weren’t able to match up. “But that’s not a knock on our guys. Our elite guys are still very elite.”
Among the things which disappointed Dean was the lack of fight in his players once the Spits had opened a 7-3 lead.
“That bothers me quite a bit,” he said. “We definitely weren’t battling for inches over the last 10-15 minutes, that’s for sure.”
Dean said his players must learn to respond to adversity.
“That’s because what you do now is an indicator of the character you have and it also sets the tone for future games,” the coach added.
Miedema scored twice for the winners while Abraham, Renwick and Avval Baisov notched a goal and assist each. James Jodoin rounded out the scoring and Henault contributed three assists.
Marco Mignosa had a pair of goals in defeat. Kerins added a goal and an assist while Cole MacKay, on the power play, rounded out the scoring.
The Hounds have some much-needed time to regroup. They return to action on the weekend playing host to Owen Sound on Saturday and Sunday.
“We need to erase these games (from our memory),” Calisti said, as he looked ahead. “We have to figure some things out.”
“We’ll probably scrap this video,” Dean added. “But we’ll challenge the group and they have to challenge each other. There have to be guys in that room who are unhappy with other guys.”
