Greyhounds eliminated from OHL playoffs (Updated)

The Soo Greyhounds season has come to an end.

The Greyhounds dropped a 4-3 decision to the Owen Sound Attack on Sunday night. In the process, the Attack won the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final in six games.

All four of the Attack wins in the series were by two goals or less.

“This is always the hardest thing to do is address your team after a loss like this,” said Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe. “The message was that we felt we could have done better in this series and maybe deserved a little bit better at different times. We felt like we fell short a little bit at real crucial parts of the series where we needed a little bit more from our players and didn’t get there. That stings. It feels like you left something on the table there.”

Keefe did say he felt the players learned from the experience, despite the setback. He added that the players “have come a long way” during the season.

Overage defenceman Colin Miller had a goal and two assists in the loss for the Greyhounds. Sergey Tolchinsky and Tyler Gaudet also scored in the loss. Darnell Nurse added a pair of assists for the Greyhounds.

Goaltender Matt Murray stopped 22 shots for the Greyhounds.

“There were a lot of questions about him and we knew, going against such a strong goaltender on the other side, that for us to have a chance, he was going to need to be good and he was,” said Keefe. “He gave us a chance. We were right there in every game and we didn’t lose this series because of goaltending. We had a chance to win every game and that’s all you can ask for. He’s a guy that took positive steps in his development and that bodes well for the future.”

Attack goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 34 shots in the series-clinching win.

“He’s the heartbeat of our team and he’s done a heck of a job for us,” Ireland said of Binnington. “He’s a classy young man. It’s a statement that he’s one of the best players in the league.”

Zach Nastasiuk had a goal and an assist for the Attack in the win. Holden Cook, Artur Gavrus and Gemel Smith also scored for Owen Sound. Smith finished the series with six goals and eight points.

“He was great for 200-feet,” Ireland said of Smith. “We preach the 200-foot game here and I go back to game five in Owen Sound where he blocked a shot off a faceoff loss and took the puck down the ice for a goal. That’s huge to turn defence into offense. His backchecking has been tremendous and he’s sprung some offense from it. Gemel took it to another level this series.”

For Keefe, the difference in game six was making plays at important times.

“Tonight, at a crucial time in the game, we made some very poor plays that aren’t the type of plays you can afford to make and win a series like this,” said Keefe.

The Attack now advance to face the Plymouth Whalers in the Western Conference semi-final, beginning on Apr. 5.

Photo courtesy Jim Egan