Facing elimination and the potential end to their season, it was about as tough a start as they could have imagined.
With their Ontario Hockey League season on the line, the Soo Greyhounds surrendered four power play goals, and six goals overall, in the opening 20 minutes of what turned into an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Windsor Spitfires Friday night.
The loss ended the Greyhounds season as the Spitfires will advance in the OHL playoffs thanks to a 4-1 series win in the opening round matchup between the two clubs.
Windsor took full advantage of the power play in the opening period, which included a major penalty to Jordan Charron midway through the period and a double minor to Travis Hayes that put the visitors down two men.
Windsor ultimately went 6-for-9 on the power play in the victory.
“A young team, some emotions get in the way,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said when asked about the Greyhounds discipline early in the game. “Some of the calls, I don’t know if they necessarily need to be fives, but at the same time, we have to be more disciplined.”
“In a do-or-die game, you can’t spend that much time in the box,” Dean added.
“We can’t be giving a team like that that many power plays,” added forward Owen Allard. “It did really kill our momentum to start the game. It’s hard to climb back against a team like that once you’re down a couple goals.”
Dean would say that he was proud of the Greyhounds for making a game of it after falling behind 6-2 through one period.
“Never quit attitude right to the end,” Dean said. “The push we put on in that game, this is a very proud moment for me as a coach, despite the outcome. It’s tough for the young men to understand that, but did they ever say a lot about their character.”
Dean added that he felt the Greyhounds character “is second to none.”
“For the sake of the guys who are graduating, it’s tough to say, but their character suggests that this future is very bright,” Dean added. “Our guys thought they were going to win that hockey game right to the end.”
Allard said it was “hard to put into words when a group goes down 6-1 like that and we climb back.”
“It showed a lot of character,” Allard added. “It was the way we wanted to go out, with a fight.”
The overage forward said the Greyhounds got some momentum from a power play goal at the end of the opening period that got the ball rolling for the team.
“That definitely kind of changed the tide of the game,” Allard said.
Mignosa said it was “really special to not back down.”
Dean said the push after Windsor jumped out of the gate was “beyond impressive.”
“The learning lesson is, you make adjustments to the team you’re playing, but you don’t sacrifice your identity doing that,” Dean said.
Windsor opened the scoring as Jack Nesbitt took a return pass from Cole Davis in the slot on a 2-on-1 down low and beat Greyhounds goaltender Landon Miller 9:23 into the game.
While on the power play, Windsor took a 2-0 lead 1:13 later as Liam Greentree beat Miller from the right faceoff circle after a shot by Nesbitt from the left circle was blocked on the way to the net by Sault defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Greyhounds forward Jordan Charron was given a major penalty for cross checking Windsor’s Shawn Costello and the Spitfires took advantage.
Ryan Abraham made it a 3-0 game, scoring on a rebound after his initial shot was stopped by Miller and Carson Woodall hit Abraham with a pass and the latter scored on a one-timer at 11:35.
The Greyhounds got on the board on the next shift as Carson Andrew went to the net and converted a pass from Travis Hayes shorthanded at 11:54.
Windsor took a 4-1 lead as a deflection by Noah Morneau off a Greentree shot was stopped by Miller before Ilya Protas scored on the loose puck at 13:14.
With the Spitfires on a two-man advantage, Morneau made it 5-1 as he beat Miller from the slot with a shot glove side at 14:29.
Windsor took a 6-2 lead with 1:37 to go in the period as Greentree took a shot from the slot that beat Miller sick side.
On a late period power play, Brady Martin made it a 6-2 game as he scored on a back-door pass from Owen Allard down low on the power play with 0.1 seconds to go in the period.
The Greyhounds got the lone goal in the second period when Brady R. Smith scored on a rebound after Noel Nordh was stopped initially by Costanzo with 3:04 to go in the period.
With another man advantage, the Greyhounds pulled to within two goals as Martin grabbed a faceoff win by Allard, skated along the top of the left faceoff circle and took a shot that beat Costanzo at 7:46.
Windsor made it a 7-4 game at 15:51 when Abraham took a pass at the edge of the crease from Carter Hicks near the blueline and beat Miller stick side.
Greentree capped off the scoring with 34 seconds to go in the third when he potted an empty net goal on the power play.
In addition to the two-goal night for Martin, Allard and Nordh assisted on two goals each for the Greyhounds in the loss.
Miller stopped 22 shots in the game for the Sault.
Greentree paced the Spitfires offensively with three goals and two assists in the win. Protas chipped in with a goal and three assists and Morneau had one of each to give Windsor’s top line 11 points in the win and 41 points in the series.
Abraham added two goals and an assist for the Spitfires while Nesbitt also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists.
Costanzo stopped 28 shots.
Overage goaltender Nolan Lalonde missed the game due to a lower body. Dean said the injury wasn’t serious enough to require surgery, but it would have kept the netminder out of the lineup for the remainder of the series.
Forward Christopher Brown and defenceman Hunter Solomon also missed Friday’s game due to injuries.
Previous Game Recaps
Game 1 - Windsor 7, Soo 2
Game 2 - Windsor 7, Soo 1
Game 3 - Soo 3, Windsor 2 (OT)
Game 4 - Windsor 4, Soo 1