Greyhounds ride special teams against Sting

For the Soo Greyhounds, special teams were just that on Sunday afternoon.

The team scored three times on four power play opportunities and held the Sarnia Sting to one goal on seven man advantages, while also scoring a pair of goals shorthanded in a 7-3 Ontario Hockey League win Sunday at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

For Greyhounds coach John Dean, special teams easily turned into the difference in the win.

“At one point, all of our goals were special teams with the exception of one, Dean said. “Our five-on-five game was average, but it was a strange game with so many power plays and penalty kills.”

“It’s the difference in the game most nights,” Sting coach Alan Letang said. “Our kill struggled at times. We knew they pressured, and we had to be able to handle that on our power play. Early on, we moved it around really well and then we got a little tired or a little complacent and they took advantage.”

Greyhounds captain Bryce McConnell-Barker added that the special teams battle was critical in the game.

“If you win the special teams battle, you give yourself a good chance to win any game you play,” the Greyhounds captain said.

Happy with the start, which saw the Greyhounds take a 4-2 lead through 20 minutes over the Sting, Dean said he felt the Sting outplayed the Greyhounds in the middle stanza but added that the players called it a tough period with more special teams play than usual being a factor.

Dean added that he was happy with the third period by his team in a game that saw the team lead 7-3 through 40 minutes.

“When you’re up by that score, it could be easy to go the wrong way and we played a very good, controlled third period,” Dean said. “We didn’t dominate by any means, but we didn’t give up a lot until the last three or four minutes.”

“Even when we were up 7-3, our third period was good,” added McConnell-Barker.

Overall, Letang said his team had “pockets where we played real well.”

Letang added that the Sting have referenced the final games of the regular season as ones in which the team tries to play “meaningful hockey.”

“When we play teams like this, it’s meaningful for us because they compete hard. They come at us. They’re hungry for goals,” Letang said. “We have to find ways to defend. We’re going to be better because of that.”

Letang agreed that games like Sunday’s are a learning experience for his young club.

“It’s 16-year-olds that have to go out and play minutes that are not normally minutes that they should be playing in this league,” Letang said. “I hope they remember all these little moments and take the small things about how hard it is to track; all the little stick plays you have to do; all the times you have to finish someone. That’s winning hockey. That’s a winning culture.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game as Arttu Karki beat Nick Surzycia from the left circle glove side.

Sarnia tied the game as Carter Kostuch redirected a pass from Mitch Young on the right wing on the power play past Landon Miller at 3:09.

The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead as McConnell-Barker took a pass in the slot from Jack Beck and beat Surzycia on the power play at 6:15.

Sarnia proceeded to tie the game again as Lukas Fischer hit Kostuch with a long pass from the defensive zone. Kostuch proceeded to hit Tyson Doucette with a pass on the 2-on-1 and the latter beat Miller glove side at 11:23.

The home side took a 3-2 lead as McConnell-Barker scored his second of the day on a shot from the slot on the power play at 16:42.

The Greyhounds added to the lead 1:12 later as Jacob Frasca beat Surzycia up under the crossbar from in tight.

Sarnia pulled back to within one as Marko Sikic scored on a loose puck after Doucette couldn't get a clean shot off from the slot with the Sting shorthanded at 6:29 of the second period.

The Greyhounds made it a 5-3 game as Brady Martin cut in from the left wing and beat Surzycia high from in close on the power play at 10:36.

Justin Cloutier then added a shorthanded goal off a turnover in the Sarnia zone that left him alone in the slot. The veteran forward beat Surzycia with a deke to the glove side at 14:17.

The Greyhounds made it a 7-3 game in the final minute of the period when Gavin Hayes took a pass in the slot from McConnell-Barker and beat Surzycia 5-hole from in close shorthanded.

McConnell-Barker had two goals and an assist for the Greyhounds while Beck also had a three-point night with three assists in the win.

Frasca, Hayes, and Karki added a goal and an assist each.

Kirill Kudryavtsev assisted on a pair of goals for the Greyhounds.

Miller made 24 saves.

Kostuch and Doucette had a goal and an assist each for the Sting.

Surzycia stopped 25 shots in the loss.

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 39-16-3-1 on the season and remain seven points behind the Saginaw Spirit for top spot in the OHL’s West Division. The Greyhounds have a game in hand on the Spirit.

Saginaw also picked up a win on Sunday, beating the Guelph Storm in Guelph.

The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday night on the road in Sudbury against the Wolves.

Sarnia falls to 23-33-3-1 with the loss. The Sting sit six points behind the Flint Firebirds for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

In addition to Travis Hayes and Marco Mignosa missing Sunday’s game due to injury, defenceman Caeden Carlisle missed the game while serving the first game of a two-game league-imposed suspension.

While Hayes and Carlisle will remain out through Wednesday’s game in Sudbury, Dean said Mignosa’s status is up in the air as the veteran forward’s status remains day-to-day.