Smiles all around for ‘incredible’ Greyhounds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Natalie Shaver (OHLImages)
As consequential as Friday’s 5-4 win in Sarnia was, the Soo Greyhounds found a way to match it just 24 hours later.
Not even the challenge that comes with playing three road games in three days was enough to deter the Hounds, who gutted out a 6-3 victory over the Flint Firebirds on Saturday in front of 4,169 at Dort Financial Center.
“Incredible,” said head coach John Dean.
“We’re super happy as a group,” added offensive standout Marco Mignosa.
What added to the significance of Saturday’s win was the fact the Owen Sound Attack dropped a 3-2 decision to Kitchener in regulation, and Sarnia blew a 3-1 lead, losing 4-3 in overtime to Barrie.
“This is the proudest I’ve been of this team in a long time,” said Dean, whose club moved into sole possession of seventh place in the OHL’s Western Conference. “Three in three, with the style of play that we’re demanding from these guys every night isn’t easy. To put the effort they put in is absolutely incredible.”
“Obviously, we showed a lot of character,” said rookie Brady R. Smith, a standout with a goal and an assist. “Every point is really important. This was super huge.”
With their chief rivals falling short, the Greyhounds (26-35-2-2) jumped a single point ahead of both the Attack (24-34-4-3) and Sting (21-31-6-7), who are tied for the eighth-and-final playoff berth. All three clubs have three games remaining.
The first tie-breaker is regulation and overtime wins combined. The Soo has 24, Owen Sound has 22 and Sarnia just 19. Should they wind up tied for seventh place, the Greyhounds would get the nod.
If the Hounds are tied for eighth place with one rival, a special one-game playoff would be staged on March 25 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
The Greyhounds are slated to return to action on Wednesday (7:05 p.m.) in Sudbury. They entertain Saginaw on Friday (7:07 p.m.) and Sarnia on Sunday (2:07 p.m.) to close the regular season.
Besides visiting the Soo, the Sting plays at Windsor and is home to Flint. Owen Sound has remaining road games left against Barrie and Kitchener, before playing host to Guelph.
When questioned, Dean admitted his players felt fatigued – especially in the second period.
“But our third period was incredible,” the coach added. “We overcame fatigue in a big way.”
Dean spoke of a “huge moment” that occurred early in the final frame.
Flint had just scored to make it 4-3 at the 2:33 mark. The Hounds couldn’t get the puck out of their zone and Max Anderson’s shot from the right side of the goal trickled through the five-hole on overage Nolan Lalonde.
The Hounds coach explained how Lalonde skated over to the Soo bench, told his teammates the third goal was his fault and it wasn’t going to happen again.
“I thought we were dominant from that point on,” Dean added.
While they controlled much of the final 20 minutes, the Hounds one-goal lead was precarious.
But Mignosa’s second tally of the game, and 36th of the season, created some breathing room.
Mignosa and Brady Martin worked a give-and-go before the Vaughan, Ont., native fired a well-placed shot from the slot. Mignosa beat Nathan Day high to the glove side at the 11:41 mark to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
“That was a pretty-good time to score a goal that put us up by two,” Mignosa admitted.
Was it his biggest goal of the season?
“Yeah, you could say that,” he answered.
“The Magic Man did his thing, putting the nail in the coffin for us,” Dean added. “He’s the most underrated hockey player in the league.”
Smith called Mignosa a “really-special player.”
With the Soo up 5-3 and Day on the bench for a sixth attacker, Martin blocked a shot which allowed Smith to fire home an empty-netter, capping the scoring.
“Brady Martin soaked up the puck at the end of the game. That shows how much our team cares,” Smith noted.
Travis Hayes, who finished with his 19th goal and one assist, took advantage of a bad Flint turnover to open the scoring just 35 seconds into the game. Martin’s backdoor feed to Mignosa made it 2-0 at 14:01.
With Flint on the power play, the Hounds inability to clear their zone resulted in Sam McCue’s redirection and a 2-1 game early in the second.
Hunter Solomon, through traffic, made it 3-1 at 15:28 of the middle frame.
McCue scored another power-play tally as the Hounds again couldn’t clear their zone. His second redirection made it 3-2 at 16:57 of the second.
But less than three-minutes later, Justin Cloutier, on a feed from Noel Nordh, notched his 27th to give the visitors a 4-2 advantage after two periods.
Nordh and Martin finished with two assists each.
Flint head coach Paul Flache, whose team was minus a handful of injured regulars, was disappointed with the Firebirds performance.
“We weren’t quite as desperate as they were,” Flache, whose club fell to 28-31-2-3, said on the Flint television broadcast.
For the Hounds, that’s five wins in six tries over the Firebirds this season.
On a night when his team held a 36-28 edge in shots, Dean spoke of how Lalonde was “really good and scrappy. After that third goal, he closed the door.”
Notes:
The Soo played minus forward Chris Brown (undisclosed injury).
