Lessons learned for Greyhounds after slow start

Starting slow has been a tough trend for the Soo Greyhounds of late.

On Saturday night, in the second game of a two-game road trip, the Greyhounds surrendered three first period goals, all in a span of 44 seconds in a 5-3 Ontario Hockey League loss to the Saginaw Spirit at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

Despite the slow start, Greyhounds Coach John Dean called the final two periods dominant and that’s the key takeaway for the team.

“That was our best response all year,” Dean said.

“That’s our best 40 minutes of hockey we played all year,” Dean added. “We’ve made comebacks before, but they were just based on our skill.”

Dean added that “there’s a ton for us to build off. There’s a ton of video that we can show and say, ‘This is how we need to play from the drop of the puck.’ We’ve made comebacks before where we’ve shown some good video. but we have some special players that have done some special things. Tonight, was the first time, we feel like this group might have turned a corner here.”

After the Spirit opened up a 4-0 lead, Cole MacKay would score late in the second period to get the Greyhounds on the board and give the visitors some life.

“Credit to our guys, they bent but they didn’t break,” Saginaw Associate Coach Chris Lazary, who has been filing in as coach in the absence of head coach Troy Smith, told the Spirit television broadcast. “That’s a tough team to beat.”

The Greyhounds would score a pair of goals in the third period to make the game close but D.J. Busdeker’s second goal of the night, into an empty net with 1:21 to go in regulation time, would seal the win for the Spirit.

Barrett Hayton and Morgan Frost had the other goals for the Greyhounds.

Rookie netminder Ethan Taylor got the start but was pulled following the opening period after giving up three goals on 10 shots. Newly-acquired goaltender Mario Peccia entered the game to start the second period and stopped 19 of 20 shots the rest of the way.

Dean called the goaltending change a decision made to try to spark the team for the final two periods.

“We left poor Taylor out to dry (in the first period),” Dean said. “Two goals were on breakaways. (The change) had nothing to do with Ethan Taylor.

“Mario was very good (in relief),” Dean added.

Lazary credited the role both Busdeker and defenceman Reilly Webb, who had an assist in the game, as key pieces to the Spirit success.

“Bussy and Webby are the type of guys that will do anything to help their team win,” Lazary said. “If you don’t have guys like that you don’t win games like this. They’ll lay in front of pucks. Their hard and heavy in battles.”

Aidan Preuter, Cole Coskey, and Nicholas Porco had the other goals for the Spirit as the trio paced the home team to its first period lead.

“We were working hard but we didn’t get many shots and it seemed like every turnover we made ended up in the back of our net,” said Greyhounds defenceman Mac Hollowell.

Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov made 32 saves.

The Greyhounds fall to 12-5-3-1 while the Spirit improve to 10-6-1-1.

The Greyhounds return to action on Nov. 16 when the team hosts the Ottawa 67’s in a 7:07 p.m. start at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

In other action around the OHL on Saturday night, in Flint, Alan Lyszczarczyk scored on the power play with 45 seconds to go in regulation time to give the Mississauga Steelheads a 5-4 win over the Flint Firebirds. Lyszczarczyk had two goals and two assists for Mississauga.

In Kingston, Jason Robertson had three goals and an assist as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Oshawa Generals 5-1. Jakob Brahaney and Tyler Burnie assisted on two goals each for Kingston.

In North Bay, Brad Chenier’s goal at 16:07 of the second period was the game-winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Niagara IceDogs 4-3. Simon Rose set up a pair of goals for North Bay.

In Peterborough, Zachary Roy made 38 saves as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Peterborough Petes 3-1.

In Sarnia, Owen Gilhula had the shootout winner at the Sudbury Wolves beat the Sarnia Sting 4-3. Cole Candella had a pair of goals in regulation time for the Wolves.

In Windsor, Daniel D’Amico had the shootout winner as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Guelph Storm 2-1. Michael DiPietro made 31 saves and stopped six Guelph shooters in the shootout.

In Barrie, Austen Keating had a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Barrie Colts 4-2. Sasha Chmelevski assisted on a pair of goals for Ottawa.

In Owen Sound, Mack Guzda made 18 saves as the Owen Sound Attack blanked the Erie Otters 4-0. Nick Suzuki scored a pair of goals for Owen Sound. Daniel Murphy stopped 40 shots for Erie.