Costly mistakes mean 2-0 playoff hole as Greyhounds return home (video)

It was the second straight game with more than 50 shots, but the Soo Greyhounds will return home empty-handed.

The Greyhounds outshot the Flint Firebirds 56-35 on Sunday but dropped a 5-3 decision at the Dort Financial Center in Flint.

With the win, the Firebirds will travel north with a 2-0 series lead on the Greyhounds in their Western Conference semifinal series.

For Greyhounds coach John Dean, it was an easy game to analyze.

“There were way too many turnovers, missed assignments on two faceoff goals against,” Dean said. “There was a turnover for a critical goal against. It’s unacceptable in playoff hockey. We need to get pucks behind their D and play in the offensive zone and manage the puck properly. We decided we wanted to turn pucks over and be cute. Missed assignments on faceoffs cost us pretty critical goals.”

Flint goaltender Luke Cavallin made 53 saves in the win and earned the praises of Firebirds coach Ted Dent.

“He’s playing elite,” Dent said in an interview with the Firebirds Hockey Network. “He’s playing at the top of his game and made some huge saves for us tonight.”

Greyhounds captain Ryan O’Rourke said following the game that shot quality was an issue for the team.

“A lot more of those could be better quality shots,” O’Rourke said. “A lot of them are perimeter shots and we’re not really getting in front of him and getting those second chances off of our initial shots.”

“At the end of the day, we have to bear down on our opportunities,” Dean said. “We don’t need to trade chances with this team. The bottom line is, if we took care of business on the other side of the puck, we’d be fine tonight.”

Dean added that he felt the team had “more than enough chances to put some pucks behind their goaltender.”

A team that has earned a reputation for bouncing back from adversity, Dean said he has confidence in the readiness of the team for game three.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that these guys are going to go to war on Tuesday,” Dean said.

O’Rourke spoke of playing with a little desperation in game three.

“In a way, we’re going to play a little desperate,” O’Rourke said. “We need to play desperate to have that mindset that everything matters, and everything rides on that game. That can lead into the game after that. We need a good game Tuesday, and we have to get it done.”

“There’s no panic here,” veteran forward Rory Kerins said. “It’s a seven-game series. We didn’t expect to win four straight or win it quickly. We’ve got a job to do.”

Kerins, who has seven assists in seven playoff games, but has yet to find the back of the net, was asked about his struggles to score in the playoffs,

“Wins feel better than scoring goals at this time of year,” Kerins said.

The Greyhounds got on the board early in the game thanks to a power play goal by Tye Kartye 1:13 into the game.

After Flint defenceman Dmitry Kuzmin stepped up, leaving three Flint players above the top of the faceoff circles, O’Rourke hit Kartye with a pass in the left circle. The overage forward stepped up and beat Firebirds goaltender Luke Cavallin stick to open the scoring.

Gavin Hayes tied the game for Flint at 10:43 when he took a pass in the slot from Brennan Othmann skating down the left wing and beat Greyhounds starter Samuel Ivanov stick side.

Othmann then gave the Firebirds a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the opening period when he took a pass off a faceoff win by Zacharie Giroux and beat Ivanov glove side from the slot.

Coulson Pitre made it 3-1 Firebirds 2:41 into the second period when Simon Slavicek won a faceoff to the left of the Greyhounds net back and Pitre beat Ivanov from near the top of the faceoff circle.

On the power play, the Greyhounds pulled to within one at 7:53 when Cole MacKay batted in a rebound off a shot by O’Rourke near the top of the left circle. The goal was reviewed for a high stick but confirmed after a lengthy second look.

Just 1:05 later, Tyler Savard tied the game for the visitors, redirecting a pass at the edge of the crease from Marco Mignosa past Cavallin to make it a 3-3 game.

Othmann gave the Firebirds a 4-3 lead early in the third when he took a feed in the right faceoff circle from Hayes in the slot before beating Ivanov at 5:22.

With 5:32 to go in regulation time, Tag Bertuzzi made it 5-3, beating Ivanov from the right circle high short side through some traffic.

O’Rourke finished the night with three assists for the Greyhounds in the loss.

Ivanov stopped 30 shots.

“Sammy had a good game,” Dean said. “He kept us fighting for an opportunity to win that hockey game. We gave up way too many chances against and really hung him out there.”

For the Firebirds, Othmann had two goals and an assist while Hayes had one of each.

The game marked the second consecutive 50-save performance by Cavallin, who stopped 55 shots in game one on Friday.

Game 3 is set for Tuesday night in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Greyhounds will get goaltender Tucker Tynan back in the lineup for the game. The netminder sat out game two while serving the third game of a three-game league-imposed suspension he received following an incident in game four of the Greyhounds first round series against Guelph.

While Tynan will be back in the lineup, the status of defenceman Jack Thompson for game three isn’t known after the veteran blueliner was handed a match penalty for checking from behind for a hit on Giroux in the Flint zone at time expired.

Puck drop for game three is set for 7:07 p.m. at the GFL Memorial Gardens.