Saginaw’s power play proves potent
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
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You can only hold elite power plays down for so long.
The last time the Soo Greyhounds faced Saginaw, the Spirit went 1-for-9 with the man advantage during a 5-2 win on Feb. 2.
On Wednesday, Saginaw scored three power-play markers in five chances – including two key goals early in the third period – en route to an 8-4 victory in front of 3,537 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
The man-advantage tallies – 17-seconds apart – to begin the final period turned a hard-fought, 2-1 deficit for the Soo into a 4-1 hole.
“Those goals are back-breakers,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose team dropped its third straight, falling to 20-30-1-1 heading into a three-game trip, in four days, which begins on Friday (7 p.m.) in London. “It’s tough to start the third period 5-on-3 in such a great hockey game.”
Saginaw came into the game in a three-way tie for second-best power play in the OHL, connecting at a 26.0 per-cent clip.
“That’s where they’re strong. Those first five guys they put out there on their first power-play unit are pretty special,” Dean continued. “You can’t give them that many opportunities.”
“That definitely was a turning point,” Hounds winger Justin Cloutier said of the back-to-back PP markers. “We can’t give them chances. You can’t be killing against these guys too often.”
Saginaw had a 5-on-3 for 46 seconds to begin the final period.
A falling Brodie McConnell-Barker was whistled for tripping at 18:46 of the middle frame, before Brady Martin was sent off for charging when he knocked Epperson to the ice at the 20-minute mark.
With the two-man advantage, Zayne Parekh found Igor Chernyshov in the left circle. Playing in just his sixth game this season due to a shoulder injury, Chernyshov beat Landon Miller through the five-hole to make it 3-1 at the 34-second mark.
Up a man, Chernyshov spotted Epperson all alone at the right side of the goal for an easy tap-in to make it 4-1 at :51. Miller had no chance on the play.
While he wouldn’t say it, it’s pretty obvious Dean, based on his reaction at the bench, didn’t like the call on Martin, who appeared to glide into Epperson, before completing a body-to-body check.
“Unfortunately, penalties came back to bite us,” said Hounds rookie Carson Andrew, who contributed a goal and an assist. “They have an unbelievable power play.”
Sault native Calem Mangone, from the right circle, beat Miller blocker side at 4:56. Arguably, it was a goal the Soo netminder would like to have back.
The visitors made it 6-1 just 1:44 later on a beautiful individual effort by Sebastien Gervais.
That brought on Reid Thomas, for his first OHL action, in place of Miller.
However, the Greyhounds made it close as Travis Hayes scored on a tap-in following an Andrew feed.
And then Andrew, at 12:38, and Martin, 3:20 later with the Soo net empty, got the Hounds to within 6-4.
The goal for Martin was his 23rd, tying Cloutier for the team lead.
With Thomas back between the pipes, Parekh scored at 16:23, before Michael Misa connected for a late empty-net tally.
“I loved our fight to get it to 6-4,” said Dean, whose club held a 29-26 edge in shots. “Our team is playing a really good brand of hockey. That’s tough for fans to hear, we all want to see wins. But I thought we played well enough to win a hockey game.”
The Soo coach went on to say he had “never seen a team play so well and not be able to get two points.”
Guelph, 10th in the Western Conference, stopped Sarnia 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday. The Storm is three points back of the Greyhounds, who hold the eighth-and-final playoff spot. Owen Sound, in ninth spot, trails the Soo by two points.
Sarnia, in seventh place, is now five points clear of the Hounds.
Trailing 2-0, a Saginaw turnover at the Soo blue-line led to a 2-on-1. Cloutier fed Noel Nordh who went high blocker side on Andrew Oke. The well-placed shot resulted in a short-handed tally at 19:01 of the second period. Nordh’s 13th goal in 31 games trimmed the Spirit lead to 2-1.
“Great goal,” said Dean, whose club has now scored 12 times when shorthanded, tying Sudbury for the OHL lead.
Cloutier, who had three assists in defeat, improving his stat line to 23-21-44 in 52 games, spoke of how the Hounds never quit.
“I liked our 6-on-5 effort at the end of the game,” he said. “We tried to stay in it until the end. But we do have to tighten up some things and make fewer mistakes.”
Andrew, a St. Louis native, talked of how “5-on-5, I thought we were all over them. When we were in the offensive zone, I felt as if we owned them.”
Asked about Miller, Dean said the second-year man “was okay. But we need better goaltending.”
Chernyshov, a San Jose prospect, finished with two goals and two assists for the winners, who improved to 28-21-1-1. In his six games to date, he’s produced 10 goals and eight assists.
Misa topped the 100-point mark (46-56-102) with a pair of goals and an assist, while Mangone had two assists to go along with his goal.
Epperson added a goal and an assist and Graydon Jones had three assists.
Following the clash in London, the Hounds are set to visit Sarnia in a key test on Saturday (7:05 p.m.). The trip concludes Monday (2 p.m.) in Brantford.
Although Dean said injured players Nolan Lalonde (lower body) and Owen Allard and Chris Brown (both upper body) are all getting close to returning, none will be on Thursday’s trip to London.
