Lack of energy haunts Greyhounds (video, 13 photos)

The Soo Greyhounds looked to maintain the emotion they played with in a win over the London Knights on Friday night at home.

Instead, the emotional level wasn’t nearly as high and the team dropped a 3-0 Ontario Hockey League decision to the Knights in the second of back-to-back games between the two clubs at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

For the Greyhounds, the game was an opportunity to build on a lot of positives. Instead, it was one in which the Knights made life difficult for the high-scoring Greyhounds.

Greyhounds coach John Dean said the result was “a product of two things.”

“They did what they do best. They really stretched us out and eliminated our forecheck by stretching us out to the blueline. We lacked a lot of jump,” Dean added. “You combine those two things against a good team, you’re going to find yourself in some trouble.”

Knights assistant coach Rick Steadman said Saturday’s game was about getting a better effort than Friday’s loss.

“We wanted to put in a harder effort than yesterday,” Steadman said. “We turned the puck over too much and played into their hands.”

“The guys really bought in today,” Steadman also said. “They knew that Friday’s game wasn’t what we wanted to look like. They weren’t happy with it themselves. They knew where the puck needed to go and knew how to get it there.”

Dean said that keeping the emotion level as high as it was in Friday’s game wasn’t an easy thing.

“It’s hard for any age group,” Dean said, “but the better teams find a way to bring it every night. You’re not going to be perfect every night. You’re going to have tough nights, and obviously we lacked energy, (but) we still battled defensively. We didn’t assert ourselves enough. We didn’t show enough enthusiasm for a game that was very important, despite the fact that we won (Friday). You’ll always have small energetic letdowns, but tonight was rather disappointing.”

Steadman said part of the gameplan for Saturday’s rematch was taking away time and space from the Greyhounds.

“We were just trying to take away time and space,” Steadman said. “If you give those guys time and space, there’s a reason why they get a lot of goals and a reason why they’re the top goal scorers in the league. We tried to take away the time and the space and clog up the middle of the ice and make them do everything the hard way.”

The Knights opened the scoring midway through the opening period when Luke Evangelista stepped around a sliding Greyhounds defender and looked to hit Antonio Stranges going to the net. The pass proceeded to deflect off Greyhounds defenceman Robert Calisti and past goaltender Tucker Tynan.

Just over seven minutes into the second period, Evangelista picked up his second goal of the night, beating Tynan from a sharp angle to the right of the Sault goal.

The veteran forward cut in from the right wing and beat Tynan high short side to make it 2-0.

Evangelista capped off the scoring with an empty net goal with 1:54 to go in regulation time,

Brett Brochu picked up the shutout for the Knights, stopping 27 shots.

Cody Morgan assisted on a pair of goals for the Knights.

The three-goal performance from Evangelista gives the veteran forward 41 goals on the season. Steadman praised

“He’s a great leader and a great character guy,” Steadman said. “More than anything, he gets the team going and leads by example. He was out there dumping it in. He made some great plays on the goals, but did some little things, some little habits that other guys can following like finishing his hits and playing in those gritty, dirty areas.”

Tynan made 21 saves for the Greyhounds.

Admitting that Evngelista’s second goal was one that Tynan would want back, Dean credited the veteran netminder for keeping the game close afterward.

“They’re a second-effort hockey club. A lot o pucks come from behind the goalline into danger areas in front and it’s very tough on a goalie,” Dean said. “He gave us an opportunity to win the game and gave us an opportunity to (try to) make a comeback in the third with a push, but we didn’t provide that push.”

Asked specifically about Evangelista’s second goal, Dean said Tynan’s “post play is something that he’s focusing on.”

“There’s been a couple in the last (few) games that I’m sure he would want back,” Dean said.

With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 28-16-5-1 and trail the Flint Firebirds by four points for top spot in the OHL’s West Division after Flint picked up an 8-3 win over the Sarnia Sting on Saturday. The Firebirds also have a game in hand on the Greyhounds, which they will play on Sunday afternoon when they host the Erie Otters.

The Knights improve to 30-13-2-0 with the victory and sit in top spot in the Midwest Division.

The Greyhounds return to action March 4 when the team opens up a three-game stretch on the road with a game against the Sarnia Sting. The team will then travel to Windsor to take on the Spitfires on March 5 before facing the Sudbury Wolves in Sudbury on March 9 before returning home for a pair of games against the Kitchener Rangers locally.

On the injury front for the Greyhounds, rookie forward Tyler Savard is out day-to-day.

Dean said the 18-year-old was hurt in Friday’s win against the Knights.