Greyhounds 'not good' in road setback: coach

With one game remaining on their three-game Family Day weekend road trip, the Soo Greyhounds have experienced some highs and lows.

Sunday was certainly the low point for the team.

After opening the trip Friday night by snapping the London Knights streak of 23 games with at least a point, the Greyhounds struggled through a 6-3 Ontario Hockey League loss at the WFCU Centre against the Windsor Spitfires.

For Greyhounds coach John Dean, there’s a clear message for the team heading into Monday’s road trip finale in Sarnia.

“These guys have to decide,” Dean said. “Do we want to be a championship-calibre team do we want to be (one) that happens to win some big games here and there and that’s good enough. That’s the reality. When we play the right way, we’re one of the best (in the league), if not the best. We are not good enough to take our foot off the gas.”

Sunday’s setback wasn’t a pretty one for the Greyhounds, who trailed 5-0 through two periods.

“The whole team from top to bottom was not good tonight,” Dean said.

‘We didn’t play with close to the energy or enthusiasm we need to play with to win a game in the Ontario Hockey League,” Dean also said of the loss. “Our start was extremely bland. We controlled the puck, but on the perimeter of the ice and did not want to get to any dirty areas or win any races.”

“This is the second time where we feel like we won an important game this year and come back the next game with a very disappointing effort,” Dean added.

Asked if he felt the team took the game lightly after an emotional win over London on Friday night, Dean said “two points is bigger than any concept of who we’re playing.”

“We have so much more at stake than who our opponent is,” Dean said

Windsor opened the scoring with just under four minutes to go in the opening period as overage defenceman Djibril Toure skated into the right faceoff circle and beat Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel glove side.

The Spitfires took control on the scoreboard in the early stages of the second period.

Jack Nesbitt made it 2-0 Spitfires just 1:55 into the middle stanza as he redirected a back-door pass from Valentin Zhugin past Schenkel.

Windsor made it a 3-0 game on the next shift as Jack Greenwell’s initial chance was stopped by Schenkel, but the Windsor forward centered the rebound into the crease, and it banked in off Spitfires defenceman Josef Eichler 1:06 after Nesbitt’s goal.

The Spitfires took a 4-0 lead midway through the period as Liam Greentree skated into the left circle and took a shot through Greyhounds defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev that beat Schenkel stick side at 9:55. The goal ended the night for Schenkel between the pipes.

Just under two minutes later, A.J. Spellacy extended the Windsor lead to 5-0 as he beat Landon Miller on a shorthanded breakaway after a turnover by the Greyhounds as the team tried to move the puck up the ice from the defensive zone. Greentree took the turnover in the neutral zone and sent Spellacy in alone on the breakaway.

The Greyhounds got on the board 1:35 into the third period thanks to a power play goal. Bryce McConnell-Barker got the puck in the right faceoff circle and beat Windsor goaltender Max Donoso high short side to make it 5-1 Windsor.

With the visitors shorthanded just over three minutes later, Owen Allard made it a 5-2 game, beating Donoso high stick side on a pass from Jack Beck on a 2-on-1.

On the next shift, Cole Davie redirected a pass in tight from Spellacy on the power play past Miller to make the score 6-2.

With 4:14 to go in regulation time, the Greyhounds again pulled to within three as Justin DeZoete beat Donoso with a point shot through traffic and Brady Martin capped off the scoring in the final seconds of the game as he beat Donoso with a one-timer from the left circle.

Allard finished the day with a goal and an assist while Beck assisted on a pair of goals for the Greyhounds in the loss.

Schenkel stopped seven of 11 Windsor shots in the loss before being pulled/ Miller stopped 10 of 12 shots the rest of the way in Just under 27 minutes of work.

Donoso made 30 saves for Windsor.

Davis, Greentree, and Spellacy had a goal and an assist each for the Spitfires.

Noah Morneau assisted on a pair of goals for Windsor.

With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 35-16-2-1 on the season and sit six points behind the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL’s West Division after the Spirit picked up a win on Sunday in North Bay.

Windsor improved to 17-29-4-3 on the season with the win.

The Greyhounds return to action Monday afternoon on the road in Sarnia against the Sting.