Sting score three in third, beat Greyhounds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
It was a play that stuck in the craw of the Soo Greyhounds head coach.
“We lost a net-front battle,” John Dean said, when asked how he saw the seconds that led up to the Sarnia Sting’s game-winning goal.
Ty Voit scored at 13:27 of the final period on Friday, breaking a 2-2 tie and leading the Sting to a 5-2 victory over the Hounds before 3,634 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Ethan Del Mastro’s shot hit the end boards and Voit, the OHL’s leading scorer, gobbled up the rebound, while out-battling Hounds defenceman Ryan Thompson at the side of the Soo goal. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect tucked it in past Samuel Ivanov at the near post to give his club a 3-2 lead.
En route to winning its third straight, the Sting scored again less than three minutes later before adding an empty-net goal to hand the Hounds their third straight loss.
“We lost net-front battles all night,” added Dean, whose club takes a 14-18-7-5 mark into Sunday’s 2:07 p.m. home start against Windsor. “We can’t lose net-front battles. That ultimately cost us a game. They were hungrier in front of our net than we were in front of theirs.”
Hounds winger Kalvyn Watson agreed, explaining how the home team “got beat back to the front of our net and we didn’t get to the front of theirs nearly enough.”
Tied 2-2 as the final frame began, Dean spoke of how he liked his club’s first 10 minutes, noting how the Hounds came out with a lot of jump.
“We looked like a team that was willing to pay the price to win,” added the coach, whose team concludes a five-game homestand on Sunday. “We could have taken the lead on a few occasions.”
The Hounds nearly connected on a Julian Fantino scoring chance six minutes into the third. Just over six minutes later, Justin Cloutier found Alex Kostov in front, but Sting netminder Ben Gaudreau turned away that scoring opportunity.
After Voit’s goal, the visitors were buzzing around the Greyhounds net before Cooper Way notched his first of two at the 16:10 mark. Ryan Mast made the play, circling the Soo goal before finding Way in front.
Way’s empty-netter capped the scoring.
“We had some defensive breakdowns that cost us in the third,” said Hounds blueliner Caeden Carlisle. “The key to boxouts is to be early. The earlier you can attach to (the opponent), the better. We didn’t do that well tonight.”
Carlisle also felt as if the Greyhounds turned pucks over too often and were scrambling in the defensive zone.
“We’re having a hard time playing a full game right now and it’s frustrating, for sure,” said Watson. “It’s been a little bit of a trend where we’ve let things slip away from us late in games. And we don’t want that to be our reputation.”
The Hounds controlled much of the first period, yet skated off down 2-0. They held a 16-7 advantage in shots and generated at least half a dozen Grade A chances.
Watson called it one of his team’s best periods this season.
Dean agreed, noting how good the Soo was on the forecheck and with its exits, while also managing the puck well.
“It was everything you could ask for as a coach – except for the two goals against,” the coach added.
Sarnia won a puck battle before converting on a 3-on-1 at the 7:23 mark.
Ethan Ritchie fed Easton Wainwright and Ivanov had little chance on Sarnia’s first goal.
While logging considerable offensive-zone time, the visitors made it 2-0 five minutes later. Nolan Burke rifled one home, beating Ivanov on the short side from the right face-off circle.
It’s likely a shot the Soo netminder would want to have back.
But the Greyhounds fought back in the middle stanza. Carlisle took a feed from Bryce McConnell-Barker and beat Gaudreau low blocker from the left circle for a short-handed tally. That made it 2-1 at 8:56.
Matthew Virgilio sprung Mark Duarte, who drove the net late in the period. The Hounds overage collided with Gaudreau and Cloutier raced in to poke the puck home at 19:56.
Burke paced the winners, who improved to 22-14-4-2, with a goal and two assists. On a night when his team held a 37-32 edge in shots, Voit had a goal and an assist.
Del Mastro, called the best player in the game by head coach Alan Letang, notched three assists.
Asked what changed in the final period, Letang talked about how his team “managed pucks a little better and our execution was better. We needed to get inside and get rebounds and we did that in the third.”
He also praised Gaudreau for his first period heroics.
“When Benny’s good, he’s one of the best goalies in the league.”
Dean lauded Ivanov, saying the veteran gave his team a chance to win.
“We just didn’t do a great job in front of him,” the Soo coach added.
By virtue of a 6-3 win over Barrie, Kitchener (19-20-2-0) moved into a tie with the Soo for eighth place in the Western Conference. But the Rangers have three games in hand.
Heading into the Windsor contest, Watson said the Hounds “need to play a little pissed off.”
Carlisle talked about how the Soo must pay more attention to detail in the defensive zone.
“Windsor will be tough,” he continued. “But it’s a good challenge for us. It’s exciting to match up with them.”
Notes:
After being assessed a minor penalty as an instigator, while fighting for the third time this season last Saturday against Hamilton, Connor Clattenburg missed Friday’s contest. He was serving the first of a two-game, league-imposed suspension.
