Series HQ: Sault Ste. Marie vs. Guelph

Game 4: Hounds quell Storm in decisive final encounter
Sault Ste. Marie 5 at Guelph 1 – Soo wins series 4-0

• Jordan D’Intino recorded two goals and an assist, finishing with a plus-4 rating as the Greyhounds advanced to the second round of the OHL Playoffs
• Brady Martin opened the scoring for the Soo; Gavin Hayes and Owen Allard would also score for the Greyhounds
• Julian Fantino had two assists in the win while goaltender Charlie Schenkel stopped 26-of-27
• Rookie forward Travis Hayes remained out of the Soo lineup
• St. Louis Blues prospect Michael Buchinger scored Guelph’s lone marker in the loss; the Storm outshot the Greyhounds 27-22
• Jake Karabela returned to the Guelph lineup for Game 4, though the Storm missed captain Braeden Bowman who missed his final game with an injury
• Guelph went without the services of other OA Brayden Hislop in the series; he hadn’t played since Feb. 4th
• Chandler Romeo played his final OHL contest on the Guelph blueline
• The Storm played to a mark of 33-28-6-1 during the regular season, suffering a number of injuries along the way; they exit in the first round of the OHL Playoffs for a third straight year
• Sault Ste. Marie is into Round 2 of the OHL Playoffs for the first time since 2022 when they fell in five games to the Flint Firebirds; captain Bryce McConnell-Barker led them in first round series scoring with eight points (2-6–8) in four games

Game Centre & Highlights | Soo Post-Game

We get the job done in four.
On to the next round.#FearTheNorth | #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/aJmEVfR8ns

— Soo Greyhounds (@OHLHoundPower) April 4, 2024

Game 3: Allard completes comeback in overtime
Sault Ste. Marie 5 at Guelph 4 (OT) – Soo leads series 3-0

• The Greyhounds comeback from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Storm in overtime
• Owen Allard scored on the power play just 57 seconds into the extra frame to put Guelph on the brink of elimination
• New York Rangers prospect Bryce McConnell-Barker and Jacob Frasca led the Soo, each tallying one goal and adding two helpers
• Gavin Hayes and Kirill Kudryavtsev also scored for the Hounds
• Vilmer Alriksson and Parker Snelgrove opened the scoring for the Storm with their first career OHL postseason goals
• Charlie Paquette and Brody Crane also scored for Guelph
• Storm head coach Chad Wiseman was ejected from the game late in the third period
• Brayden Gillespie returned to the Storm lineup and made 33 saves in his first start of the playoffs
• Landon Miller earned the win for the Soo after entering the game in relief of starter Charlie Schenkel midway through the game
• Guelph packed the Sleeman Centre with a Monday night crowd of 4,635

Game Centre & Highlights | Soo Post-Game

Allard nets ‘biggest goal of my life’
RECAP; SOO 5 @ GUE 4 OT; GM3 – April 1, 2024
📰 https://t.co/Vp93pwUVF1
(by Peter Ruicci – Independent Media)
📽️ https://t.co/REu7SFwCoG
🖼️ Courtesy of @gar_pic pic.twitter.com/zujglbDDbM

— Soo Greyhounds (@OHLHoundPower) April 2, 2024

Game 2: Greyhounds capitalize on special teams
Sault Ste. Marie 4 vs. Guelph 1 – Soo leads series 2-0

• The Soo Greyhounds scored a pair of second period power play goals in quick succession before later scoring shorthanded to take a 2-0 series lead
• Jacob Frasca was the game’s first star with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds
• Other Soo goals came from Caeden Carlisle, Marco Mignosa and Arttu Karki
• Bryce McConnell-Barker, Gavin Hayes and Christopher Brown all had two assists
• Rylan Singh scored his first career OHL playoff goal for Guelph late in the second period
• The Storm lost veteran forwards Braeden Bowman and Jake Karabela to injury in the second period, and neither played in the third
• Jack Beck was out of the Soo lineup with an injury while Guelph’s Max Namestnikov served the first game of a four game suspension
• Charlie Schenkel stopped 19-of-20 for the win

Game Centre & Highlights | Soo Post-Game | Guelph Post-Game 

THATS 2⃣ pic.twitter.com/5o5T57VVb7

— Soo Greyhounds (@OHLHoundPower) March 31, 2024

—

Game 1: Teams combine for just 39 shots as Greyhounds win opener
Sault Ste. Marie 4 vs. Guelph 3 – Soo leads series 1-0

• Tied at three, Gavin Hayes scored the go-ahead goal with 5:11 remaining in the second period
• The two teams combined for six second period goals
• New York Rangers prospect Bryce McConnell-Barker was the game’s first star with a goal and an assist
• Arttu Karki and Owen Allard scored other Soo goals while Kirill Kudryavtsev had two helpers
• Guelph’s Jake Karabela opened the scoring; Michael Buchinger and Brody Crane scored other Storm goals
• Greyhounds forward Jack Beck left the game with an injury in the first period and didn’t return
• The Hounds outshot the Storm 22-17, Soo went 1-for-4 on the PP to Guelph’s 2-for-3
• A crowd of 3,857 took in the Thursday night Game 1 at GFL Memorial Gardens

Game Centre & Highlights | Soo Post-Game | Guelph Post-Game 

It's an absolute FRENZY in the Soo 😳

After a SIX-goal middle frame, the Hounds lead the Storm by a score of 4-3 🎥#OHLPlayoffs | #SOOvsGUE pic.twitter.com/S0DvUSXLuB

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 29, 2024

—

(3) Soo Greyhounds (45-18-3-2) vs. (6) Guelph Storm (33-28-6-1)

Soo Series Preview | Guelph Series Preview

The Guelph Storm were one point away from making the drive 30 minutes west to Kitchener for Round 1. Instead, they embark on the 7.5 hour journey north to Sault Ste. Marie to begin their first round series against the Greyhounds.

Teams are seldom interested in making excuses for themselves, but the Guelph Storm have had the short end of the stick with injuries this season, particularly on the back end. Veterans Cam Allen (2-7–9), Michael Buchinger (10-37–47) and first round 2023 Priority Selection choice Quinn Beauchesne (2-5–7) have all missed extended periods, undoubtedly giving Chad Wiseman and his coaching staff the added challenge of finding a rhythm on the back end.

Storm vs. Soo 🔜 pic.twitter.com/1tVHpcpDzV

— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) March 28, 2024

Speaking of injuries, the Storm start the series without starting goaltender Brayden Gillespie, who didn’t make the trip to the Soo, but remains a possibility later in the series. Damian Slavik, who has made several consecutive starts now for Guelph, carries the load in his absence and he’ll be tasked with holding a fleet-footed Soo offence at bay.

For their part, Guelph has struggled at times to generate offence. The Storm’s 26.7 shots-per-game were the lowest in the league this season. With that said, they’ve got guys who can put the puck in the net led by captain Braeden Bowman (37-34–71) who scored 37 times. Draft eligible centreman Jett Luchanko (20-54–74) piled up the assists, finishing with 54.

The Storm had been playing good hockey to end the regular season, winning a pair of home-and-home sets against both Kitchener and Owen Sound.

Guelph will need to be at their best against Sault Ste. Marie as the Greyhounds have been at the top of the Western Conference standings all season, boasting one of the OHL’s top defence corps led by Vancouver Canucks prospect Kirill Kudryavtsev (5-42–47), Detroit Red Wings selection Andrew Gibson (12-32–44) and power play presence Arttu Karki (21-24–45), a prospect of the Vegas Golden Knights.

There’s a good blend of speed with the likes of Jack Beck (27-58–85), Bryce McConnell-Barker (22-29–51) and Owen Allard (18-26–44) with some sizeable forwards in Jacob Frasca (16-17–33) and Gavin Hayes (37-39–76) who enable the Hounds to play heavy hockey when they want to.

While the Storm were typically outshot this season, Sault Ste. Marie made it common practice to outdo their opponents on the shot clock, with their 26.1 shots allowed per-game second-lowest in the OHL only to Saginaw.

Despite those metrics, the Hounds aren’t overlooking the Storm, who managed to defeat them once back in December.

“They’re a good forechecking team and a team that works really hard,” Bryce McConnell-Barker told soogreyhounds.com’s Peter Ruicci. “We’re not going to take them lightly.”

See the series in its entirety on OHL Live.

GOOD MORNING 🌅! Just over twenty-four hours before the playoffs start so let's fire up the 3rd Advancer of the week 👇
'Hounds depth is dangerous'
📰 https://t.co/fFbA7va5IG
(by Peter Ruicci – Independent Media)
🖼️ @FreezeFrameFtos pic.twitter.com/7m2nRo7mjP

— Soo Greyhounds (@OHLHoundPower) March 27, 2024

Series Schedule:
Game 1: Thurs., March 28 – Guelph at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:07pm
Game 2: Sat., March 30 – Guelph at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:07pm
Game 3: Mon., April 1 – Sault Ste. Marie at Guelph, 6:30pm
Game 4: Wed., April 3 – Sault Ste. Marie at Guelph, 6:30pm
Game 5: Fri., April 5 – Guelph at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:07pm*
Game 6: Sun., April 7 – Sault Ste. Marie at Guelph, 6:30pm*
Game 7: Tues., April 9 – Guelph at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:07pm*

Season Series:
Soo wins 3-1
Dec. 16 – SOO 2 at GUE 3 (SO)
Jan. 5 – SOO 5 at GUE 2
Jan. 12 – GUE 2 at SOO 4
Mar. 8 – GUE 1 at SOO 3

Playoff History:
This marks the sixth time that Sault Ste. Marie and Guelph have met in the OHL Playoffs
– 2022 SOO def. GUE 4-1 – 1st Round / 2015 SOO def. GUE 4-0 – 2nd Round / 2008 SOO def. GUE 4-1 – 2nd Round / 1997 GUE def. SOO 4-2 – 2nd Round / 1994 SOO def. GUE 4-0 – 2nd Round