Special teams lift Greyhounds to road split

The Soo Greyhounds will return home feeling good following the opening two games of their Ontario Hockey League Western Conference semifinal series with the Saginaw Spirit.

After dropping game one on Thursday night by a 4-0 margin, the Greyhounds secured a split with the Spirit following a 5-2 victory on Saturday night at Saginaw’s Dow Event Center.

A second period penalty kill followed by a power play goal was a difference-maker in the contest for the Greyhounds.

The visitors killed off three minutes of Saginaw power play time before grabbing a power play goal later in the frame, giving themselves a 3-1 lead at the time.

Dean called the power play goal, scored by Owen Allard, “huge.”

“For us to capitalize on (the power play) after not really getting any over the course of the two games and put us up by two goals, that’s huge for us,” Dean said.

Dean added that the penalty kill “in general has been exceptional.”

“Some really key adjustments by our players and staff and our kill has now been a source of motivation and momentum for us,” Dean added. “Getting that big kill after what we thought was a difficult penalty call against and then us capitalizing (on the power play), that takes a lot of wind out of the other teams sails.”

“Anytime you can win the special teams battle, it’s a huge boost,” said forward Justin Cloutier. “Our power play was great tonight, and we killed a lot of penalties tonight, which we did a great job. (Assistant coach Brendan Taylor) got a great pre-scout for us.”

“That usually wins games if you win special teams,” Cloutier added.

Dean said his team was “beyond focused and determined” in Saturday’s victory.

“It really seems like it’s us against the world in this series,” Dean added. “Focus. Determination. A real determination to have nothing bother us as well was critical for tonight. I just loved the way our guys played.”

“We knew how much that game meant,” added overage forward Jordan D’Intino. “I don’t think there was a chance we were losing that game.”

Dean said he felt the Greyhounds managed the puck better than they did in the opening game, adding that the Greyhounds “attention to detail in the defensive zone was excellent.”

The Greyhounds lost captain Bryce McConnell-Barker in the second period when the Greyhounds captain made contact with Saginaw goaltender Andrew Oke behind the Spirit net and was given a major penalty for checking to the head.

“Bryce is clearly trying to get out of the way,” Dean said. “He actually blows snow, which means he’s hitting the brakes when he goes around that net.”

Saginaw coach Chris Lazary referenced the hit as well in speaking with the Spirit radio broadcast following the game, but his comment was limited to “I don’t like them running our goalie.”

Saginaw’s power play on the call was limited to three minutes due to additional minor penalties going to Braden Hache and Jorian Donovan during a post-incident skirmish and the Spirit couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage at the time.

Dean said that because the play was called as a major penalty to McConnell-Barker, it will be reviewed by the league office.

“There’s always potential for anything to happen,” Dean said when asked if he was concerned about a potential suspension to the Greyhounds captain. “Bryce’s body of work, he’s basically one of the most gentlemanly players in the league, clearly trying to get out of the way, I think it’s incidental contact there.”

A disappointed Lazary said following the loss that Saturday’s contest was one to put in the rearview mirror for the Spirit.

“We’re going to throw this out and move on,” Lazary said. “It wasn’t a good game for us clearly.”

Lazary was critical of the ice in Saginaw as well following the loss.

“We’ve had all year to figure out why our ice is terrible, and we haven’t figured it out,” Lazary said. “Look, they’re scoring on it too, but it’s bouncing both ways. It’s frustrating and I think both teams would admit it. It’s frustrating to try to make plays in here. Our ice quality is not there.”

Lazary added that he felt the Greyhounds were “by far, not even close, the better team tonight.”

“That was impressive how hard they played and some of the things they did,” Lazary added.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring as overage forward Jacob Frasca won a battle on a race for a loose puck deep in the Saginaw zone and hit Julian Fantino in the slot with a pass. Fantino proceeded to beat Saginaw starter Andrew Oke high glove side to give the Sault a 1-0 lead at 4:45.

Saginaw tied the game late in the period as Zayne Parekh beat Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel with a shot from the top of the left circle through a screen by Matyas Sapovaliv stick side on the power play at 16:23.

The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission as D’Intino grabbed a turnover in the neutral zone by Donovan and skated into the Saginaw zone before cutting into the slot and beat Oke stick side with 1:48 to go in the period.

After the Greyhounds killed off the remainder of the McConnell-Barker major in the second period, the visitors took a 3-1 lead at 15:16 of the second period when Allard found himself in the right faceoff circle and beat Nolan Lalonde on the power play after the latter replaced Oke.

Saginaw pulled back to within one in the third period as Nic Sima took a pass in the right circle from Rodwin Dionicio and beat Schenkel short side at 6:58.

D’Intino made it a 4-2 game as he redirected a shot in tight by Justin Cloutier from the right circle past Lalonde at 10:03

The overage forward then capped off the scoring at 16:38 with his third of the night, taking a breakaway pass from Kirill Kudryavtsev amd beat Lalonde high glove side.

In addition to the three-goal night for D’Intino, Cloutier, Kudryavtsev, and Gavin Hayes had a pair of assists each for the Greyhounds in the victory.

“Obviously it feels great,” D’Intino said of his big night offensively. “Playoff hattrick, anyone’s going to be happy. I got my chances tonight and capitalized on them.”

Schenkel made 25 saves for the Greyhounds.

Dean spoke of Schenkel being “extremely solid.”

“When he’s calm, quiet, poised, we know we’re going to have a game (from Schenkel),” Dean said. “The first save of the game was a monstrous save and right there, our bench thought ‘Charlie’s here.’”

Oke stopped nine of 11 Greyhounds shots before coming out of the game for Saginaw. Lalonde stopped seven of 10 shots the rest of the way.

The series now shifts to Sault Ste. Marie for games three and four, beginning with game three on Monday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

On the injury front for the Greyhounds, Dean said overage forward Jack Beck continues to inch closer to getting back in the lineup after being injured on a hit in game one of the Sault’s opening round series against the Guelph Storm.

Dean said there is potential that Beck could get back in the lineup during the week as the Greyhounds return home.

“There’s a chance for game three and there’s a chance for game four,” Dean said. “He’s literally at that day-to-day point.”

In other playoff action around the league, the London Knights took a 2-0 series lead on the Kitchener Rangers on Saturday thanks to a 5-1 win on home ice.

Saturday night’s other game saw North Bay take a 2-0 series lead with a 5-1 win over the Sudbury Wolves in North Bay.

On Friday night, the Oshawa Generals beat the Ottawa 67’s 4-3 in Oshawa to take a 1-0 series lead.