Soo strikes Sarnia with stellar second period
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Natalie Shaver
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS
The Sarnia Sting went more than 14 minutes in the second period before finally registering their first shot on goal.
That stat was indicative of just how dominant the Soo Greyhounds were in Friday’s middle stanza.
While outshooting the home side 16-2 in the second, the Hounds scored the period’s only three goals.
That allowed them to rebound from a 2-0 first period deficit, en route to a 6-2 victory over the Sting in front of 3,629 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
“I thought we were great in the second period,” said veteran Marco Mignosa. “It was one of our best periods this season.”
“We really jelled in the second. We were connected as a team, we were all on the same page and moving our feet,” added first-year centre Quinn McKenzie, whose club improved to 15-9-1-1 heading into a Saturday clash with the surging Flint Firebirds (18-6-1-0), winners of 10 straight, at Dort Financial Centre (7 p.m.).
Head coach John Dean called the opening 20 minutes disappointing.
“But we thought it was structural and less about effort,” said Dean, whose club wound up holding the Sting to single-digit, shot totals in all three periods, registering a 40-18 advantage overall.
The coach spoke of how a couple of small adjustments were made on the forecheck.
That led to a second period which featured a “pretty darn incredible effort by our guys. We were relentless on the forecheck , relentless getting above the puck and we created a lot of offensive opportunities.”
Dean, whose club improved to 10-3-0-1 on the road, heaped praise on Mignosa, Chris Brown and Jordan Charron for their leadership and poise following a shaky opening period.
Trailing 2-0, the Greyhounds got on the board at 5:23 of the second frame when Hunter Solomon deposited a rebound past Sting netminder Patrick Quinlan for his first goal of the season.
Just over four minutes later, four Sting players got caught up ice and, on a 2-on-1, Mignosa found McKenzie all alone at the left side of the goal for his first of two tallies. Quinlan had no chance on the play.
Less than five minutes after that, Tobias Zvolensky blocked a shot at the Soo blue-line and the rebound created a breakaway for Charron. He went low on the glove side for his 18th goal of the season. That made it 3-2 Soo.
At 11:26 of the third, Charron tapped the puck ahead to Brown for a 2-on-1. The veteran centre cut from the right wing, through the slot. He showed patience before beating Quinlan high on the glove side.
Just 34 seconds later, Travis Hayes found Mignosa at the side of the goal and the overage slid the puck across to McKenzie, who was all alone on the left wing. The Cranberry Township, Pa., native notched his ninth goal and took time to praise his linemates.
“It’s just amazing the way Mignosa sees the game, and it’s super fun playing with him and Travis,” said the first-year centre, who took the spot of injured captain Brady Martin on the top line.
Martin remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
With the score 5-2, Noah Laus connected on the powerplay at 18:37 of the third. The newest Greyhound, Colin Fitzgerald, acquired from Peterborough earlier this week for six draft choices, registered an assist.
Brown finished the night with a goal and two assists while Charron had a goal and an assist. Zvolensky, Mignosa and Hayes recorded two assists each.
Lukas Fischer, on a goal Noah Tegelaar would like to have back, opened the scoring from a bad angle at 2:34 of the first. Jack Van Volsen made it 2-0 about 12 minutes later with a power-play marker.
Quinlan made a number of big saves, keeping the game as close as it was.
With new head coach Mathieu Turcotte making his Sarnia debut, the loss for the Sting was its sixth in a row, dropping the club to 6-14-3-1.
Friday’s tilt marked the Hounds debut for Fitzgerald, a centre, and defenceman Callum Croskery, who’s been injured since the exhibition season.
“He’s big, strong, fast and he has a good shot,” Mignosa said of Fitzgerald, after both players had registered six shots on goal. “He’s the full package.”
“A big boy who can skate,” added Dean, who spoke of the need for Fitzgerald to get accustomed to what the Hounds do structurally. “But what he brings to the table is very exciting.”
As for Croskery, the coach noted how “for him to play the way he did in Game 1 of his OHL career is very, very impressive. He’s going to be one of the best defencemen in the OHL.”
“He’s so talented and he’s such a good defenceman,” McKenzie said of the Oakville native. “He’s got it all.”
Saturday’s clash will mark the second time this season the Soo has faced Flint. Skating at home, the Hounds lost 3-2 to the Firebirds on Nov. 5.
“I’m pumped,” said Mignosa. “I want to end their win streak. We’ll have to stay on top of pucks and play a full 60 minutes.”
“They’re very deep up front, an older group,” added Dean. “It’ll be a big challenge, but it’s a game we’re looking forward to.”
