Greyhounds rebound in second game of weekend series with Sting (video, 12 photos)

After a disappointing start to their three-game homestand on Friday night, Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean was happy with the response 24 hours later.

The Greyhounds scored in the opening minute of play in what was eventually a 5-3 Ontario Hockey League win over the Sarnia Sting on Saturday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

The win came on the heels of a lacklustre effort against the Sting on Friday in a 3-0 loss.

“I’m happy with the response,” Dean said. “The things the guys were celebrating on the bench were parts of the game that go unnoticed most of the time. When guys were finishing hits, guys were getting excited. When guys were blocking shots, when guys were getting above pucks the response on the bench for those things was with excitement.”

Dean said that reaction tells him that “they understand what matters and they understand what it takes to win.”

“Those little details will ultimately be the difference of winning and losing in the Ontario Hockey League,” Dean added.

Rookie forward Tyler Savard said that after Friday’s result, the Greyhounds felt they had something to prove on Saturday.

“We were ready to compete,” Savard said. “We finished all of our hits tonight and we were ready right from puck drop.”

The rebound effort wasn’t a surprised for the Sting.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from one of the top teams in the conference,” said Sting coach Alan Letang. “They responded with a bounce-back game.”

“We knew what was coming,” Letang also said. “We played short with four D, two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old that was playing his first season too. I expected them to come after us hard.”

The start to the game was also something that stood out for Dean after starting slow in Friday’s contest, which carried over throughout the game.

“The guys looked determined to not be defined by (Friday’s) game,” Dean said. “(Friday’s) game was also piggybacked off not a very good game in Sudbury (last weekend). You don’t want to be a team that starts trending in the wrong direction, especially this time of year. Having a start like that and showing each other that they know what matters ultimately is the big message here that when you play that hard, you’re going to find success.”

“They knew their gameplan and they executed it well,” Letang said. “Every puck went behind our D knowing we had four. Their top guys finished checks all night and all the way through the lineup, which is what we try to do (Friday) with some success. We knew coming in that whomever was winning the game after the first period was probably going to end up winning the game.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring 33 seconds into the game when Marco Mignosa beat Sarnia goaltender Benjamin Gaudreau from the high slot.

Dean said the goal was important to take some pressure off after Friday’s shutout loss while Letang said he liked the way his team responded after the early goal saying his team got better as the game went on.

“You come off a night where you throw forty-plus shots at a goalie and don’t get anything by him, if you go through the first period and it’s the same story where you think ‘Okay, here we go again; what do we have to do to beat this guy?’” Letang said of the early goal. “With them getting that one early, it probably took a little bit of the pressure off.”

After the remainder of the opening period was scoreless, Sarnia got on the board early in the second period when Theo Hill split a pair of Greyhounds players near the top of the right circle and then beat Greyhounds starter Tucker Tynan high stick side at 2:48.

Just 21 seconds later, the Greyhounds retook the lead when Tyler Savard redirected a pass from Kalvyn Watson past Gaudreau to make it 2-1.

The Greyhounds took a 3-1 lead when Robert Calisti one-timed a pass from Jack Thompson on the power play. Calisti beat Gaudreau from the right circle at 8:27.

Hill picked up his second of the night just over five minutes later when he beat Tynan from a sharp angle that saw him send the puck to the net where it handcuffed Tynan.

With 14.7 seconds to go in the second period, Keegan McMullen made it 4-2 Greyhounds. Rory Kerins picked up a turnover in the neutral zone, skated into the Sarnia zone and then hit McMullen with a pass going to the net.

Letang called the goal “a huge turning point.”

The Greyhounds went up 5-2 midway through the third period as Owen Allard drove the net and redirected a pass from Watson past Gaudreau.

Nolan Dann cut the deficit to two for the Sting with a power play goal with 2:21 to go in regulation. He took a pass in the left circle from Ty Voit and beat Tynan.

Dean said going to the net was something the team discussed heading into the game and it led to some success in the game offensively.

“We said we wanted to see guys getting to the net and getting in a determined mood and we saw three legitimate net-drive goals,” Dean said. “That’s how it’s done at this level. As the game gets tighter in the second half here, you have to make a point of getting to the tough areas.”

Savard finished the night with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Kerins and Watson had a pair of helpers each.

Savard said the addition of Allard to the line with himself and Watson was a good one.

“It was our first time playing together with Allard down the middle there,” Savard said. “It definitely helps a lot when you’ve got a guy like Allard that’s so reliable in the D zone. He’s the hardest worker on our team every shift. Having Allard down the middle chipping pucks out for us created a lot of offence.”

Tynan stopped 23 shots.

After making 45 saves for the shutout in Friday’s win over the Greyhounds, Gaudreau stopped 33 shots on Saturday night.

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 25-14-4-1.

The win took on added meaning as the team remains one point behind the Flint Firebirds for top spot in the OHL’s West Division after the Firebirds also won on Saturday night.

The loss drops Sarnia’s record to 16-18-3-1.

Sarnia played Saturday’s game minus a pair of defencemen as Chandler Romeo was suspended by the league after a hit on Ryan O’Rourke in Friday’s contest between the two clubs and Nolan Dillingham missed the game due to injury.

Romeo has been suspended indefinitely by the league.

Letang said Dillingham suffered a fractured wrist.

O’Rourke missed the game due to injury as a result of the hit by Romeo on Friday.

Dean said O’Rourke’s injury hadn’t been officially diagnosed when asked if it was a concussion and said the veteran blueliner is out day-to-day as of Saturday night.

Rookie forward Ethan Montroy, who has missed an extended period due to injury, is currently day-to-day as well.

Dean said following Saturday’s game that Montroy is practicing with the team though without physical contact.

The Greyhounds return to action on Wednesday night at home against Flint. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 7:07 p.m.