Final regular season road trip starts on sour note for Greyhounds

It wound up being a former teammate that ended the comeback hopes.

Connor Clattenburg was the hero for the Flint Firebirds on Wednesday night, scoring the shootout winner against his former team as the Firebirds beat the Soo Greyhounds 4-3 in a shootout at the Dort Financial Center in Flint.

While he stopped short of saying he was disappointed following the loss, Greyhounds coach John Dean said it was a game in which Flint made life difficult on his team.

“(They) did a good job of slowing us down in the neutral zone and we doubled down and were stubborn in our approach,” Dean said. “Our forecheck was lacking compared to what it usually does.”

Dean added that he felt the Greyhounds got away from things that have made them successful in the offensive zone.

Dean also said the Greyhounds fire and intensity wasn’t what is usually expected from his team but added that part of it was a byproduct of the style of game the Firebirds played.

“They did a good job of taking that fire away and playing a brand of hockey that tries to slow you down through the neutral zone,” Dean said. “That’s something that we generally do a significantly better job against.”

Overage forward Jack Beck said the Greyhounds weren’t “on our gameplan as much as wanted to be.”

“We weren’t sticking to our systems as much,” Beck added. “We were getting away from it a little bit. They play a tight man-on-man and a trap, so it’s definitely frustrating to play against.

Flint opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game as Nathan Aspinall beat Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel on a wraparound to the stick side.

The Greyhounds would tie the game thanks to a goal by Beck, who took a pass in the slot from Gavin Hayes below the goalline and beat Flint starter Nathan Day stick side at 12:21.

Flint retook the lead 3:32 later in the opening moments of a power play. Coulson Pitre won the faceoff back to Tristan Bertucci, who proceeded to beat Schenkel high stick side through traffic five seconds into the man advantage to give Flint a 2-1 lead that they would take into the intermission.

Flint made it a 3-1 game just over six minutes into the second period thanks to a goal by Matthew Wang. Wang wrapped the puck around and it appeared to be stopped by Schenkel, but it would roll off the Greyhounds netminder and in to extend Flint’s lead. The goal ended the night for Schenkel in goal as Landon Miller entered in relief.

The Greyhounds again made it a one-goal game late in the period. With seconds to go in a Sault power play, Beck got the puck in the high slot and beat Day through traffic stick side to make it a 3-2 game.

The Greyhounds tied the game at three in the third period as Julian Fantino beat Day with a shot from the slot high glove side after taking a pass from Brady Martin below the goalline at 11:49, ultimately setting the stage for the former Greyhound to pick up the shootout winner.

After the teams skated through a scoreless overtime, Miller and Day traded saves through the first five shooters before Clattenburg ended it by beating his former teammate high glove side in the shootout.

In addition to the two-goal night for Beck, Hayes assisted on both goals by the overage forward.

Schenkel stopped four of seven Flint shots before being pulled. Miller would stop all 20 shots he faced the rest of the way before making a pair of saves on three shootout attempts by the Firebirds.

Asked about Schenkel following the game, Dean said, “Charlie’s got to be much better” and credited Miller for his play in relief.

“He gives us a chance to get two points,” Dean said of Miller.

Day made 21 saves through 65 minutes before stopping all three Sault shooters in the shootout, turning aside Hayes, Bryce McConnell-Barker, and Jacob Frasca.

With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 42-16-3-2 on the season. With Wednesday’s contest being their game in hand on the Saginaw Spirit, who the team is chasing for top spot in the West Division, the Greyhounds manage to gain a point and trail the Spirit by five points in the standings. Both teams have five games remaining on their regular season schedules, including a matchup in the Sault on the final day of the regular season.

The Greyhounds return to action on Friday night on the road in London against the Knights. The Knights moved two points ahead of Saginaw for top spot in the Western Conference thanks to a win over the Erie Otters in Erie on Wednesday.

Flint improves to 29-30-3-1 on the season and the win officially clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference for the Firebirds. Flint moved into a tie with the Guelph Storm for seventh in the conference as well thanks to the win though the Storm now has a game in hand.