Turnovers would be extremely costly for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon.
Playing the final game of a three-game road trip, a turnover in overtime would lead to the game-winner as the Greyhounds dropped a 4-3 decision to the Guelph Storm at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph.
Puck management was more of an issue in the opening period, where the Storm took the play to the Greyhounds.
“For some reason in the first period we were looking for homerun passes when all we needed was five-foot passes to control the neutral zone,” said Greyhounds Coach John Dean. “In the second and third, we shortened it up and supported the puck better.”
“We weren’t really structured and sticking to our game plan,” added Greyhounds forward Ryan Roth, who had a goal in the game. “We got away from it and (Guelph) made us pay.”
In overtime and looking to move up ice, Morgan Frost looked to go cross-ice to defenceman Mac Hollowell, but the pass was picked off by veteran Guelph forward Cedric Ralph. Schnarr would feed defenceman Ryan Merkley to the right of the Sault goal and the blueliner would proceed to beat Matthew Villalta for the game-winner, giving Guelph its first win over the Greyhounds since March 2014.
“I was thinking shot at first, but I saw something open up, a little two-on-one. I thought I'd fake the shot and give it to Merks and it ended up working,” Ralph told GuelphToday.
The loss came after the Greyhounds erased a 3-0 deficit in the contest.
Guelph came out and scored three times before the game was 10 minutes old
Following the period in an interview with RogersTV, Frost called the opening period “one of the most embarrassing periods I’ve been in since I played on this team.”
“In the first 12 minutes we looked like we were on our heels,” Dean said. “We were trying to stretch the neutral zone out where we should be making short passes. (Guelph’s) neutral zone offensively was very effective. They did a good job getting speed through the neutral zone and getting the puck deep behind our defencemen. It seemed like every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net. We couldn’t do anything right for a period.
The positive in the game was the Greyhounds ability to battle back after a forgettable opening period.
“As a group, we showed a lot of character,” Dean said. “We fought back over 40 minutes. It’s not like we just scored three in a row (quickly).
“I’m really proud of the way the guys battled back,” Dean added. “There’s a lot to be said about the way we played over the last 40.”
“Our response was great,” said Greyhounds captain Barrett Hayton. “It really says a lot about what we have in our room.”
Frost, Roth and Cullen McLean scored for the Greyhounds.
Villalta made 27 saves for the Greyhounds.
Ralph had a goal and an assist for Guelph while Isaac Ratcliffe and Nate Schnarr also scored.
Goaltender Anthony Popovich made 23 saves for the Storm.
On the injury front, Roman Pucek and Tye Kartye missed Sunday’s game for the Greyhounds.
Pucek sat out with a lower-body injury while Kartye was injured in Friday’s win over Kitchener after a hit by Rangers forward Carter Tresoor, who has been suspended by the league for the hit.
Kartye is in concussion protocol.
Dean said the quick turnaround means both players may not be available for the homestand opener, but they could play on Friday.
“They’re both close (to playing),” Dean said. “They’re both day-to-day.”
The Greyhounds return to action on Wednesday night against the Flint Firebirds in the opening game of a three-game homestand. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 7:07 p.m.
The Greyhounds remain in top spot in the OHL’s West Division and Western Conference despite the loss with a record of 10-3-3-0 and 23 points. Guelph sits in top spot in the Midwest Division and second in the Western Conference with 18 points and a record of 8-4-2-0.
In other games around the OHL on Sunday, in Flint, Akil Thomas had a goal and three assists as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Flint Firebirds 7-1. Kyen Sopa added a pair of goals for the IceDogs.
In Hamilton, Justin Brazeau’s goal at 8:31 of the third period was the game-winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2. Brad Chenier had a pair of goals for North Bay.
In Ottawa, Kody Clark scored at 2:10 of overtime to give the Ottawa 67’s a 4-3 win over the Sudbury Wolves. David Levin scored twice for the Wolves while Sudbury netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 45 shots.
In Owen Sound, Jordan Frasca and Curtis Douglas had two goals each as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Owen Sound Attack 6-1. Michael DiPietro made 33 saves for Windsor.
In Sarnia, Anthony Salinitri had a pair of goals as the Sarnia Sting beat the Saginaw Spirit 5-3. D.J. Busdeker set up a pair of goals for Saginaw.
In Erie, Gera Poddubnyi scored at 1:16 of overtime to give the Erie Otters a 5-4 win over the Mississauga Steelheads. Poddubnyi had two goals and an assist while Hayden Fowler also scored twice for Erie. Owen Tippett had two goals and an assist for Mississauga.
Sunday’s other game, which saw the Oshawa Generals host the Kingston Frontenacs, was an evening start and not complete at the time of writing.