Road trip wraps up on tough note for Greyhounds

For a young team finishing up a long road trip, the hope is that Sunday will be a learning experience for the Soo Greyhounds. 

Playing the final game of a three-game East Division road trip, one of the longest trips of the season for the team, the Greyhounds surrendered four goals in the opening period in a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa 67’s Sunday afternoon at TD Place in Ottawa. 

The game was one that Greyhounds Coach John Dean said it’s easy to get discouraged in a game when things aren’t going well.

“We lost a lot of battles and anytime you lose a lot of the 50/50 battles, it’s not going to look to good on the scoresheet,” Dean said. “Ottawa executed with very crisp passing. They looked sharp and organized and we didn’t seem to execute at all. Our passes were off. We bobbled pucks. We had chances to score and it didn’t go in the net.”

“You can get discouraged over the course of a game when you feel like you’re working really hard but not getting the results,” Dean added. “Then the structure starts to go and Ottawa took it to us the last part of the game.”

Despite falling behind early, Dean felt the effort was strong in the opening period but mistakes would prove costly.

“I liked our first period to be totally honest,” Dean said. “Our guys brought it. It was unfortunate that every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net.”

“Things snowballed a little bit at the game went on,” Dean added. “That’s a little bit to do with youth and a little bit to do with our older guys needing to step up.”

For the 67’s it was a case of rebounding after slow starts in recent games.

“We’ve been having tough first periods and our first period (today), once we got that out of the way, we were rolling,” Ottawa forward Tye Felhaber told RogersTV following the game. “We were just staying above their guys and being physical and not giving them much on the offensive side. They like to wheel and deal and we tried to take that away as much as possible.”

It was a tough day for Greyhounds starter Matthew Villalta. 

The 19-year-old was pulled after Ottawa scored six times on 20 shots.

“Every single goal that goes in the back of his net, he tells me he could have had it but Matt Villalta’s not the reason we lost the game,” Dean said. “He’s been unbelievable (this season).”

Rookie Ethan Taylor, who picked up his firs OHL win in his first start on Friday night in Kingston, stopped all 15 shots he faced the rest of the way.

“If there’s a bright spot here for our team, it’s the confidence in Ethan Taylor,” Dean said. “Now he’s going to have confidence in himself. He’s been put into two difference scenarios. He’s started a game and come in cold.”

Morgan Frost and Roman Pucek completed the scoring for the Greyhounds, who fall to 3-3-1-0.

Dean said the message following Sunday’s loss is “consistency in the game plan.”

“No matter what’s thrown at you, no matter what happens,” Dean said. “We told the guys that there are going to be times where your work ethic is there and you end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard for a period, how are you going to respond in the second and the third?”

The Greyhounds sit in second in the OHL’s West Division following weekend action. 

Felhaber had a big day for the 67’s with two goals and an assist while Austen Keating also had three points with a goal and two assists.

Keating’s goal, which came midway through the opening period, was the eventual game-winner.

After a two-goal performance in a win over Barrie on Saturday night, Marco Rossi had a goal and an assist Sunday for Ottawa.

Quinn Yule and Kody Clark also scored for Ottawa while defenceman Merrick Rippon set up a pair of goals.

Ottawa goaltender Cedrick Andree made 28 saves. 

Ottawa improves to 5-3-0-0 with the win as the team moves into top spot in the OHL’s East Division. 

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

The game opens a stretch that will see the Greyhounds play six straight games at home.

In other action around the OHL on Sunday, in Kingston, Maksim Zhukov made 38 saves as the Barrie Colts doubled up the Kingston Frontenacs 4-2. Tyler Tucker had a goal and an assist for Barrie while Ryan Suzuki assisted on two goals. Jason Robertson scored both goals for Kingston.

In Windsor, Zachary Roy made 42 saves as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Windsor Spitfires 5-2. MacKenzie Entwistle had a goal and two assists for Hamilton while Avery Hayes set up a pair of goals. Cole Purboo scored both Windsor goals.

In Kitchener, the game between the Kitchener Rangers and Sudbury Wolves was a 4 p.m. start and not complete at the time of writing.