Strong start lifts Greyhounds to two-game lead over Storm (video, 10 photos)

Starting games well has been something the Soo Greyhounds have made a habit of this season.

On Saturday night, that habit helped the team to a 4-1 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Guelph Storm at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

A three-goal opening period helped the Greyhounds take a 2-0 series lead over the Storm as their Western Conference quarter-final series shifts to Guelph.

Greyhounds coach John Dean said starting well was something the Greyhounds emphasized prior to puck drop.

“We knew they would come with a really good effort tonight and we thought it was very important that we had a push of our own and we accomplished that,” Dean said.

“The start’s huge in the playoffs,” added Greyhounds defenceman Jack Thompson. “It sets the tone for the rest of the game. Especially in the second home game after we just won (game one), we knew that they were going to come out hard and push back.”

Storm coach George Burnett said a good start to the game by the Greyhounds wasn’t surprising.

“We knew they were going to play with more energy tonight,” Burnett said.

“It doesn’t surprise me, the way that they started,” Burnett added. “I didn’t like our start obviously. We get through the first 10 minutes and I liked out last 40 minutes. We had an equal number of quality chances through the second in particular.”

Burnett also said more is expected from the Storm veterans, specifically up front.

“If our 16- and 17-year-old kids are going to be our hardest working guys, it’s going to be a short series,” Burnett said. “We need more from our older forwards. We don’t have a lot of guys there, but we certainly need more from that group.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring on the power play when Thompson took a pass, skated to the top of the right faceoff circle and beat Guelph starter Jacob Oster high stick side to make it 1-0 Sault at 9:45 of the opening period.

“I saw three Guelph players on the one side of the ice, so I just stayed on my side,” Thompson said. “Credit to the guys working over there, they got the puck to me, and I was just walking down Broadway. I had a lot of space. They gave me a lot of room there.”

Thompson called the goal an emotional lift.

Just 44 seconds later, Justin Cloutier skated down the right wing and sent the puck to the net from a sharp angle that handcuffed Oster to make it 2-0.

The home team went up by three at 14:36 when Tyler Savard broke to the net and scored on a rebound after Oster stopped Rory Kerins from the right wing initially.

Guelph got on the board for the first time in the series at 15:08 of the opening period when, off a faceoff win, Jake Karabela beat Greyhounds goaltender Tucker Tynan from in close on the power play. The goal came just three seconds into the man advantage.

Marco Mignosa sealed the win for the Greyhounds with an empty net goal with 2:19 to go in regulation time.

Tynan made 30 saves for the Greyhounds in the victory.

“That’s back-to-back games of brilliant hockey,” Dean said.

“When we got a little bit carried away there in the second period, he saved our bacon,” Dean added.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Thompson added. “Anytime we need a big stop, he’s there. That’s huge for confidence as a defenceman as well that he’s there to protect us if we get out of position. It’s been really impressive what he’s done.”

Oster made 38 stops for Guelph.

“He competes his butt off every night,” Burnett said of the 18-year-old. “He would probably look at the second goal as not being a great one, but he responded and gave us some big saves.

“His compete is outstanding regardless of what the score is and that’s a sign of a top young goalie,” Burnett added. “

The series now shifts to Guelph for games three and four. Game three is set for Tuesday night with game four following on Thursday. Both games are 7 p.m. starts at the Sleeman Centre.

“We just have to play our game and play the way we’ve been playing,” Thompson said of game three. “Just because it’s in their arena doesn’t change anything. We just need to continue to do what we’ve been doing.”

Dean added that a focus for the team heading into the game will be consistency.

“I just want to see consistency,” Dean said. “There’s no doubt that in the second period we gave up so many scoring chances against and we have to know what gets us paid on a consistent basis. That’s when we manage the puck well and play with pace. In the second period, there were times when we slowed it down and didn’t manage the puck well and they capitalized.”

Burnett said the focus with the series shifting to Guelph lies solely on game three.

“The home team has to be ready to play for game three,” Burnett said. “That’s my only concern right now is making sure we’re sharp and ready to go.”

The Greyhounds are set to get veteran forward Kalvyn Watson back in the lineup for game three. The 19-year-old missed the opening two games of the series while serving a three-game suspension dating back to the Greyhounds second-last game of the regular season.

For the Storm, veteran defenceman Luka Profaca left the game in the third period with an upper body injury.

Burnett said following the game that the severity of the injury wasn’t known.