Greyhounds rebound for critical victory

There’s been a lot of bounce-back in the Soo Greyhounds this season and fans at the GFL Memorial Gardens saw it on Wednesday night.

Trailing their Western Conference semifinal series against the Saginaw Spirit by a 2-1 margin after a 7-2 loss on home ice on Monday, the Greyhounds rebounded 48 hours later and blanked the Spirit 4-0 Wednesday to even their Ontario Hockey League playoff series in the process.

For the Greyhounds, there was a lot to like in Wednesday’s game.

“Each game of the series, we take a chop out of them,” said overage forward Jacob Frasca. “Today, we just gave it our all and it went our way.”

“(The biggest part) was staying composed,” Frasca said of what was important in Wednesday’s win. “We got the lead, and it was just staying in the moment shift by shift. Good things happen when you stay mentally composed and just play in the moment.”

Greyhounds captain Bryce McConnell-Barker spoke of how Wednesday’s contest was a must-win game for the team.

“We played a good game,” McConnell-Barker said. “We were desperate. We didn’t want to go down 3-1 in the series.”

Veteran goaltender Charlie Schenkel bounced back from a game three outing that saw him give up six goals by stopping 27 Saginaw shots for the shutout.

Dean called Schenkel “excellent” in the victory.

The Greyhounds coach also credited the Greyhounds defensive play in the victory.

“The big thing for me is our willingness to block shots, get in front of the puck, box out in the blue paint, and help Charlie out,” Dean said. “We actually felt that it was a difficult night for us and that they got a lot of speed through the neutral zone tonight. We didn’t love that part of our game. Once we got into our D zone, we were pretty happy.”

Asked what he thought the difference was from Monday’s victory, Spirit coach Chris Lazary said, “I thought we played well both nights.”

“We played our game,” Lazary also said of Wednesday’s contest. “We just couldn’t find a way to get the puck in the net.”

Dean said an early goal on a two-man advantage gave the Greyhounds some added life late in the opening period.

“If you suffer on special teams, it can be deflating the other way,” Dean said. “If they kill off that five-on-three, it gives them a lift and not us. Scoring that goal gives us a lift.”

Dean also said that an early goal on a major penalty to Saginaw’s Braden Hache in the third period was important.

“The rest of the power play was not good at all,” Dean said. “For us to score that one early and give us a bit of a cushion was really good for us.”

“It’s a three-goal lead and we think we can come back,” Lazary said of the goal on the major.

Dean also said he was proud of the play of his team in the final stretch of the contest when the Spirit pulled goaltender Nolan Lalonde for an extra attacker with over five minutes to go in regulation.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring as McConnell-Barker beat Saginaw starter Nolan Lalonde from the right circle on a two-man advantage at 15:17 of the opening period. The goal came after a shot bounced off a body in the slot to the Greyhounds captain.

The locals made it a 2-0 game in the middle stanza as Frasca skated the puck deep into the Saginaw zone down the right wing and, before skating behind the net, hit McConnell-Barker with a pass in the slot. The latter proceeded to beat Lalonde high glove side at 11:19.

In the opening minute of the major penalty to Hache, Jordan D’Intino beat Lalonde from the right faceoff circle on a one-timer after a pass from Brady Martin to make it a 3-0 game at 2:59 of the third period.

With 2:47 to go in regulation time, Marco Mignosa sealed the win with an empty net goal.

McConnell-Barker finished the night with two goals and an assist to pace the Greyhounds offensively.

D’Intino added a goal and an assist for the home side while Gavin Hayes assisted on a pair of Sault goals.

For the Spirit, Lalonde made 24 saves in the loss.

On the injury front for the Spirit, Lazary was limited when asked about the reason for Zayne Parekh’s absence in the contest though general manager Dave Drinkill said the blueliner was out due to an illness.

Asked about veteran goaltender Andrew Oke, Lazary declined to comment on the netminder’s status for the remainder of the series.

In game five, which is Friday night in Saginaw, Frasca said the Greyhounds “have something to prove.”

“Just to try to win two in a row here,” Frasca added. “We have to bring that desperation still even though we’re even. That’s when we play our best is when we feed off each other and want it more.”

“We need to play how we played tonight,” McConnell-Barker added. “We’re a hungry team. WE stick to our structure and good things will happen for us.”

Around the league all three of the other second round series are currently 3-0 heading into their respective game fours.

On Tuesday night, the London Knights beat the Kitchener Rangers 6-4 in Kitchener while the North Bay Battalion beat the Sudbury Wolves 6-5 in overtime in Sudbury and the Oshawa Generals beat the Ottawa 67’s 4-3, also in overtime, in Ottawa.