Savard shines as Greyhounds snap skid on home ice

Story by Brad Coccimiglio (Sootoday.com) | Photo by Bob Davies

It was a relief in more ways than one.

A three-goal third period lifted the Soo Greyhounds to a 5-2 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

For the Greyhounds, the win snaps a five-game losing skid on home ice that also saw the team drop a pair of games in overtime and two more by way of shootouts, all of which came in their past four contests in the confines of the Gardens.

For Greyhounds coach John Dean, there was a lot he plans to take away as a positive from the win.

“We generated a lot,” Dean said. “We had a lot of opportunities. Like a young team, we gave up a little bit here and there and got roped into a little bit of their game, but for the most part defended hard. I really loved our O-zone buzz.”

With the game tied at two through two periods, Dean spoke of goals by overage forward Mark Duarte and sophomore forward Marco Mignosa as crucial in

“We haven’t found a way to win these games (at home) and that has to weigh on the kids,” Dean said. “For (Duarte) to go score that goal and Miggy to finally get the monkey off his back, obviously it’s a huge sense of relief.”

“We were in that game,” IceDogs coach Daniel Fitzgerald said. “We did some good things to give ourselves a chance. In the third period, we pressed. We had some opportunities and didn’t come out with a result. We have to fight through some of that ice a little bit more and get to the net and make it harder for them to defend us. We had a lot of zone time, but it was a lot of perimeter zone time.”

Fitzgerald added that fatigue also became a factor in the final period.

In the final period, Fitzgerald said some of the issues that led to chances for the Greyhounds through the opening 40 minutes continued to be a factor as the Greyhounds took the lead in the final 20.

“We took a penalty because we were late coming out of there zone, we get outnumbered going back to our net and we have to make a desperate play,” Fitzgerald said. “On the penalty kill, it starts with the faceoffs. We were horrible in the dot tonight.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring just over eight minutes into the contest as Andrew Gibson took a shot from the point that deflected off a stick in close high glove side on Niagara goaltender Owen Flores.

Just 2:33 later, Brenden Sirizzotti tied the game for the IceDogs as he went to the net and redirected a pass from Jacob LeBlanc on the left wing past Charlie Schenkel in the Sault goal.

The IceDogs took a 2-1 lead just over four minutes into the second period thanks to a power play goal from Aidan Castle beat Schenkel with a shot from the right faceoff circle glove side. The goal came 25 seconds into a 5-on-3.

Tyler Savard tied the game for the Greyhounds at 6:46 when a Kalvyn Watson shot from the right circle deflected into the slot where Savard batted it past Flores out of the air on the man advantage.

Duarte gave the Greyhounds the lead 4:25 into the third period when he stepped around a Niagara player, cut into the slot, and beat Flores with a backhand stick side.

Alex Kostov sealed the win with an empty net goal with 2:18 to go.

Savard finished the night with a goal and three assists to pace the Greyhounds offensively.

For Savard, the offensive outburst was a welcome sight after picking up a pair of assists through five games after returning from a four-game suspension prior to Saturday’s win.

“I’ve been trying to do too much,” Savard said. “I came back, it wasn’t that I was out of shape, but I wasn’t in full game shape again. It was nice to get my feet back under me tonight.”

“I’m feeling myself again,” Savard said. “I’m being physical, and I feel better than I ever have.”

Dean called Savard “the best player on the ice by far tonight.”

“Energy, physicality, he managed the puck well,” Dean added. “He got pucks to the net. He was vocal with his teammates.”

Mignosa had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds. The goal was his first since Oct. 9 against Sarnia.

“It was good to get the monkey off my back,” Mignosa said.

“I had a lot of chances these past few games,” Mignosa also said. “It’s been frustrating, but I’ve kept my mind straight and just kept practicing shots in practice.”

Asked about Mignosa, Dean said “his game has really come around.”

“He’s been playing very well for the last three or four weeks,” Dean said. “Not to say he wasn’t playing well before, but he’s getting better and better and the poor guy has been snakebitten. He could probably lead our team in goals with the amount of posts and chances that he’s had.”

Schenkel made 20 saves for the Greyhounds, who improve to 5-5-3-2 with the victory.

Flores stopped 33 shots for the IceDogs.

The loss drops Niagara’s record to 4-8-3-0.

Next up for the Greyhounds is a three-game road trip next weekend that will see the team play three games in three days.

The trip kicks off on Friday night in Flint against the Firebirds. The following night, the team will be in Saginaw to face the Spirit before wrapping up the trip Sunday afternoon in London against the Knights.