Greyhounds drop third straight game (7 Photos)

The Soo Greyhounds saw their losing streak extended to three games on Wednesday night.

The Greyhounds returned home for the first game in a five-game homestand as they hosted the Saginaw Spirit, dropping a 4-2 decision in the process. The loss is the third-straight regulation loss for the Greyhounds, dropping their record to 16-5-0-2 in the process.

Wednesday marked the annual Teddy Bear Toss at the Essar Centre and the Greyhounds opened the scoring in the first period on a David Miller goal 6:24 into the hockey game. The Teddy Bear Toss seemed to turn the tides in Saginaw’s favour.

“We were a different team coming out of that but it is what it is,” said Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe. “It happens every year. (Saginaw) had to sit through it as well and it seemed to give them an opportunity to regroup.”

Said Saginaw coach Greg Gilbert: “Early, we were pulling back and we don’t normally play that way. We play more moving our feet with short shifts and an up-tempo game. When you let a team like the Sault move the puck around, you’re asking for trouble and we finally got our legs going and put a little bit of pressure on them and created some turnovers and some scoring opportunities.”

Saginaw scored a pair of early goals in the second period to go up 2-1, thanks to markers by Terry Trafford and Nick Moutry and the Spirit would eventually scored a pair of third period goals to get the win. Justin Kea had a goal and an assist for Saginaw in the win. Cody Payne also scored for the Spirit.

Saginaw goaltender Jake Paterson stopped 35 shots, including16 in the third period.

“He was outstanding,” Gilbert said of the veteran netminder in the third period. “He made the big saves when we needed him. He and (backup Nikita Serebryakov) both have given us a chance to win.”

Jean Dupuy had the other goal for the Greyhounds in the loss. Rookie goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 27 shots in the loss.

Keefe said following the game that some sloppy defensive play cost the Greyhounds in the loss.

“Even though we didn’t play well at times, we didn’t give up a lot,” said Keefe. “We made very sloppy defensive errors that cost us all three goals. The first two goals were just very basic and routine stuff.”

“We played well enough to win but the reason we didn’t is because we gave them goals by, especially on the first two goals, just having no commitment defensively,” Keefe added. “Ultimately, that’s the difference in the game. Otherwise, we probably find a way to win this game 2-1 tonight.”

Keefe went on to say he was pleased with some parts of the Greyhounds game, despite the loss.

“We liked our third period and in the first period we did a number of good things leading up to the first goal,” said Keefe. “Credit to (Saginaw), they did a good job of checking Tolchinsky in particular. We talked about a plan going into the game but we didn’t execute it well enough. Some guys weren’t willing to adjust to the game”

Next up, the Greyhounds continue their homestand as they host the Sarnia Sting on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. at the Essar Centre.

To read SooToday.com's live blog from Wednesday night's game, click here

Photos courtesy SooToday.com's Donna Hopper