RECAP; ‘Workmanlike’ Greyhounds advance to Round 2
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Like a factory humming along with three shifts, the Soo Greyhounds operated at close to peak capacity and efficiency on Saturday.
Tye Kartye scored two early goals, the Hounds connected twice on the power play and stifled their opponent’s offence.
The result was a highly-impressive, 6-0, series-clinching victory over the Guelph Storm before 4,336 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“That was probably the best game we’ve played in the series,” said Kartye, whose team won the best-of-seven, Western Conference quarter-final in five games, earning some down time before beginning the conference semis. “We executed the game plan well and did a lot of things right.”
Hard-working winger Tyler Savard took it a step farther.
“That was our best, most-complete hockey game in a month,” said Savard, who notched a pair of assists and was one of his team’s best performers. “In the playoffs you need four lines going and I thought we stuck together well as a team. I was very impressed with how we played all series long.”
Head coach John Dean agreed the word “workmanlike” described his team’s Game 5 effort. “Guys went out with purpose. They had a job to do. We were businesslike and guys did their jobs to a tee.”
The victory for the Hounds made them the first Western Conference club to advance into Round 2.
Windsor holds a 3-2 lead over Sarnia after the Sting secured a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday.
Game 6 is Sunday in Sarnia.
Also on Sunday, Owen Sound visits Flint and Kitchener visits London. Both of those series are tied 2-2.
Though he faced few quality chances on Saturday, Hounds netminder Samuel Ivanov made the saves he had to, while posting his first career playoff shutout.
Ivanov blanked Sarnia 2-0 for his lone regular season shutout.
To a man, the Soo did a brilliant job in keeping the Storm’s offence on the perimeter, something Ivanov took pleasure in pointing out.
“The guys in front of me are amazing. The work ethic they showed tonight and in this series was incredible,” said the Richmond Hill, Ont., native.
On a night when the home team held a 34-23 edge in shots, Ivanov said he felt calm. That was the focus he and goaltending coach Matt Smith discussed before the game.
“Sam was great when he needed to be,” said Dean. “But our guys did a really good job boxing out and protecting inside the dots. Our second effort has been incredible.”
Ivanov got the start after Tucker Tynan was handed a three-game suspension by the OHL on Friday. The Hounds goalie was assessed a match penalty for roughing midway through the second period of the Soo’s 5-4 overtime win on Thursday in Guelph.
At the same time, the Storm played without its two-leading scorers, Sasha Pastujov and Danny Zhilkin, and head coach George Burnett, all of whom were hit with two-game suspensions.
Pastujov received a five-minute major and game misconduct for charging Tynan in Thursday’s game. The Hounds goalie retaliated by hitting Pastujov with his blocker.
Zhilkin left his team’s bench during the altercation and Burnett was suspended for not controlling the bench.
Asked to look ahead to starts in the first two games of Round 2, Ivanov spoke of how his goal is “to give us the best chance to win every time I play.”
Facing elimination, Guelph came out hard. But their efforts were tempered when Kartye scored back-to-back goals 4:15 apart in the opening period.
The goals were practically mirror images of each other. In the right face-off circle, Bryce McConnell-Barker won the draw and Kartye quickly snapped the pucks past Storm netminder Jacob Oster. The first goal, at 8:56, beat Oster low to the glove-hand side.
The second was high to the blocker side.
“In every playoff game, coming out strong is important,” said Kartye, who scored five times in the series. “Scoring the first goal is big and we were glad to get off to a hot start tonight.”
“Those goals were huge,” added Dean. “It’s not like we were dominating at the time, by any means.”
Early in the second, slick puck movement led to Cole MacKay’s third post-season tally. On the power play, Rory Kerins found MacKay in front and the Sault native had a tap-in.
The home team all but put the game away late in the second. Kalvyn Watson completed a beautiful, three-way passing play which included Savard and Rob Calisti. The goal, at 19:22, made it 4-0.
Jack Thompson netted a power-play goal, his third of the playoffs, off a slick feed from Kerins at 2:04 of the third. Watson, with his second post-season marker, wrapped up the scoring.
Thompson finished with a goal and an assist while McConnell-Barker and Kerins joined Savard with two assists each.
“It didn’t feel like a 6-0 game,” said Guelph associate coach Chad Wiseman. “That’s a veteran, fast-paced, aggressive, in-your-face kind of hockey team. They come in waves, they score in bunches. But I thought we competed well. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
Dean planned to give his players Sunday off and was also considering making Monday an off day.
It’s believed Friday is the earliest the Soo would begin play in the conference semis.
“We’ll celebrate this tonight and then we’ll regroup this week to get ready to play,” MacKay said, as music blared in the Greyhounds dressing room. “I’ve been saying it for a while: We were trending in the right direction and it translated into this first-round series.”
