Riding the emotions of a win on Thursday night, the waves continued for the Soo Greyhounds on Friday night.
After an overtime win over the Windsor Spitfires on Thursday, the Greyhounds dropped a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League decision to the London Knights on Friday night at the Budweiser Gardens in London.
It was a night in which the Greyhound players felt they had more to give.
“Very average,” said Greyhounds forward Cole MacKay when asked how his team played.
“I didn’t think we matched the game we played (against Windsor),” MacKay added.
MacKay did say he felt the team “did a good job refocusing” after the Windsor game.
“We didn’t play horrible (against London), but we could have been a lot better to capitalize and minimize their chances,” MacKay said.
Asked for his thoughts on the assessment, Greyhounds coach John Dean spoke of the players want to maintain the same effort on a nightly basis.
“They care so much and they’re in a state of mind where they’re so invested in this, which is really fun as a coach,” Dean said. “They know what they’re capable of. They saw it (Thursday) and they want to replicate that game in and game out.”
“We fought pretty hard tonight,” Dean added. “We didn’t generate a ton, but we did have an opportunity to win that game.”
Dean also said that, considering the circumstances of playing the second game of a back-to-back stretch against a Knights team that is atop the conference and off on Thursday night, there were some positives to take from the game.
“The guys assess their game based on that night and the way they know they can play,” Dean said. “Of course it’s not our best game but all things considered, the guys battled.”
“We looked like we had some tired bodies on the ice, but I don’t question the competitive level and how hard they worked,” Dean also said.
Generating offence was something that was a struggle for the Greyhounds against the Knights.
“They’re a team that generally shuts it down in the first place,” Dean said. “They’re very good at limiting opportunities.”
Dean added that he was pleased with the quality of chances the Greyhounds did have in the game.
“It’s one of those games where you think you might have been able to steal one if a couple of those really good opportunities went in,” Dean said.
With the Greyhounds trailing 2-1 to start the third period, overage forward Jason Willms put London ahead 3-1, beating Greyhounds goaltender Nick Malik high glove side from the left faceoff circle 11 seconds into the frame.
Dean called the goal a “back-breaker.”
Liam Foudy and Alec Regula added a goal and an assist each in the game for the Knights while Jonathan Gruden had the other London goal.
Markus Phillips picked up two assists for the Knights.
Goaltender Brett Brochu made 26 saves.
Malik finished the night with 35 saves for the Greyhounds.
Kalvyn Watson and Tye Kartye completed the scoring for the Sault. Drew Wawrow assisted on both Greyhounds goals.
Friday’s loss drops the Greyhounds record to 26-30-3-1 and took on added importance as the Erie Otters dropped a 5-3 decision to the Guelph Storm in Guelph on Friday night.
With the losses by both clubs, the Otters remain three points ahead of the Greyhounds for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.
The Otters hold a pair have two games in hand on the Greyhounds and return to action at home on Saturday night against the North Bay Battalion before wrapping up the weekend on Sunday afternoon at home against London.
The Greyhounds are off on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with a game on the road against the Sarnia Sting on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Knights remain in top spot in the Western Conference with a record of 40-15-1-1.
In other action around the OHL on Friday night, in Flint, Jake Durham and Brennan Othmann had two goals each as the Flint Firebirds beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-4. Evgeniy Oksentyuk chipped in with a goal and two assists for Flint. Arthur Kaliyev had a goal and two assists for Hamilton.
In Ottawa, Marco Rossi had a goal and an assist as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Oshawa Generals 4-1. Joseph Garreffa assisted on three Ottawa goals. 67’s goaltender Cedrick Andree made 37 saves.
In Saginaw, Damien Giroux had a pair of goals as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Kingston Frontenacs 5-2. Bode Wilde had a goal and two assists for the Spirit.
In Sudbury, the Sudbury Wolves scored three times in the third period to beat the Niagara IceDogs 4-2. Blake Murray had a goal and an assist for Sudbury. Ivan Lodnia scored both Niagara goals.
In Guelph, three unanswered goals lifted the Guelph Storm to a 5-3 win over the Erie Otters. Pavel Gogolev had a pair of goals for Guelph while Cam Hillis and Fedor Gordeev assisted on two goals each.
In Kitchener, trailing 3-2, the Kitchener Rangers scored five unanswered goals to beat the Sarnia Sting 7-3. Joseph Serpa and Jonathan Yantsis scored twice each for Kitchener.
Friday’s game between the Owen Sound Attack and Mississauga Steelheads, scheduled for Friday at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, was postponed due to bad weather and has been rescheduled for March 17.