Slow start proves costly for Greyhounds in Flint

Slow starts have left the Soo Greyhounds in a tough spot through the first two games of a three-game weekend road swing.

After giving up four goals in the first period of a Thursday night loss to the Windsor Spitfires, the Greyhounds fell behind 4-1 on Friday night in a 4-3 Ontario Hockey League loss to the Flint Firebirds at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint.

Flint defenceman Riley McCourt had what was the eventual game-winner as he drove the net, completing a give-and-go with Jack Wismer midway through the second period and, though the Greyhounds battled back to make it a one-goal game, it was a climb the team couldn’t complete.

“We can’t keep chasing,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We’ll talk as a group and see if there’s something differently we can do to prepare and get our mentality similar to what we’ve been having in the second and third periods lately.”

“We had an extremely strong first period,” Flint coach Eric Wellwood said in an interview on the Flint television broadcast. “We knew that (the Greyhounds) were going to come out in the second and give us a strong effort and they did that. (Luke) Cavallin did a good job keeping us in the game. In the third period, it was one of those periods where we had opportunities to go up in the game and maybe ice it and we made it a little bit closer than it needed to be.

“Give a lot of credit to the Greyhounds,” Wellwood added. “They had some opportunities as well and Cavallin shut the door.”

After Flint took a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes, the Firebirds made it 3-1 in the opening minute of the second period. Despite the early goal, it was a period the Greyhounds were pleased with.

“I didn’t like the start of our second period obviously, but we put together a good effort for the next 17 or 18 minutes,” Dean said. “It gets old to talk about how great we responded. It needs to be from the drop of the puck.”

Greyhounds goaltender Bailey Brkin was solid in the contest, making 31 saves.

“The first period could have been 6-0,” Dean said. “He was fantastic. They’re a very good team off the rush. He was very good in the second period with the limited action he had and in the third period, he gave us a fighting chance to push at the end.”

For Dean, part of the issue early on was the Greyhounds “waiting for the other guy to do the work first and it’s not a good recipe for us.”

“When we’re off and we’re not playing well, our team is still trying to figure out that we’re a skilled team that has to compete,” Dean said. “When we focus on the skill side, we tend to wait around for the other guy to make the play and move the puck as opposed to competing your butt off to get the puck and then using your skill. Our second guy early on was always late. Our first guy was great, but our second guy was hoping for a play to come to him. When we do that, we’re not very good.”

Jaromir Pytlik had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Tye Kartye and Jacob Holmes also scored.

McCourt finished the night with two goals and an assist to pace the Firebirds offensively.

“Everybody knows the offensive ability he brings to our team,” Wellwood said. “The one thing he doesn’t get enough credit for is playing a strong team game. He knows when to jump and he knows when not to jump. He’s getting a lot stronger in the defensive zone. He’s a guy we’re really relying on and he’s done a fantastic job.”

Wismer had a goal and an assist for Flint while Ethan Keppen also scored. Veteran forward Jake Durham assisted on a pair of goals.

Goaltender Luke Cavallin made 35 saves.

The Greyhounds, who fall to 9-14-1-0 with the loss, will head to Sarnia to wrap up the road trip on Sunday at Progressive Auto Sales Arena against the Sting.

Flint improves to 14-8-0-0.

In other action around the league on Friday, in Hamilton, Zachary Roy made 31 saves as the Hamilton Bulldogs blanked the North Bay Battalion 4-0. Arthur Kaliyev had two goals and an assist for Hamilton.

In Kingston, Zayde Wisdom had a goal and two assists as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Sudbury Wolves 5-3. Shane Wright chipped in with a pair of goals for Kingston.

In Guelph, Eric Uba had a pair of goals as the Guelph Storm beat the Sarnia Sting 3-0. Storm netminder Nico Daws made 17 saves for the shutout.

In Kitchener, Connor McMichael had three goals and an assist as the London Knights beat the Kitchener Rangers 5-1. Ryan Merkley assisted on three goals for the Knights.

In Oshawa, Chad Yetman scored three times as the Erie Otters beat the Oshawa Generals 4-2 Jamie Drysdale assisted on all four Erie goals.