After missing an extended stretch to start the season due to an injury, defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker is making strides since his return to the Soo Greyhounds lineup.
The second-year blueliner picked up what was likely the most important Ontario Hockey League goal he’s ever scored on Sunday afternoon.
The 18-year-old had the overtime winner on Sunday as the Greyhounds picked up a 2-1 victory over the Windsor Spitfires at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
For McConnell-Barker, the goal is likely among the biggest impacts he’s had on the team since his return to the lineup in late October.
“Coming back from injury, it felt good to get my first goal,” McConnell-Barker said. “It’s just a great feeling.”
“I’m super proud of him,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said of McConnell-Barker. “Our power play has started to click since he’s come back. I still think he’s got more in his game that he can build off of.”
On the winner, McConnell-Barker said he saw Windsor goaltender Joey Costanzo low to the ice and wanted to go high, beating the Spitfires netminder glove side on the play.
“I got the puck, passed it down to (Marco) Mignosa, then I saw (Liam) Greentree stumble a little bit and I saw a little gap to take some space so I took the ice,” McConnell-Barker said. “Then Mignosa had a perfect pass right on my stick.”
Spitfires coach Greg Walters felt fatigue was a factor for Windsor in the loss, also saying that his team was “just fine, vanilla” in the loss.
Dean said he was pleased with the Greyhounds response in the third period following a second period that he said was “not good.”
“The sign of a good team is a team that can reset and find a way to be better the following period,” Dean added. “The third period was a great period.”
Dean also said he felt Windsor was “by far” the better team in the second period.
“In the third period, we get pucks in behind their D and they’re at the end of a long road trip. Our guys played it perfectly,” Dean said. “We start to hound them in their end, tire them out.”
“I felt like the game was starting to go in our hands (in the third),” McConnell-Barker said, adding that “work ethic, playing simple” helped changed the course of the game late.
Asked about the third period for the Spitfires, Walters said “they’re a good team and they’re coached really well.”
“They outworked us,” Walters added. “They got some zone time, and they outplayed us.”
Carrying the play over into the overtime period from a solid third period, Dean spoke of the Greyhounds dominance in the faceoff circle in overtime, which helped the team continue their play from the third period.
After the teams skated through a scoreless opening period, Windsor got on the board first early in the second period.
Rookie forward Ethan Belchetz drove the net and redirected a pass from Ilya Protas past Greyhounds goaltender Landon Miller 4:20 into the period. Belchetz started the play on an odd-man rush by feeding Anthony Cristoforo before going to the net and taking a back-door pass from Protas, who got the puck from Cristoforo.
Midway through the third period, the Greyhounds tied the game as Noel Nordh beat Costanzo with a shot from the slot that handcuffed the Windsor netminder at 9:47. The goal came moments after a turnover along the sideboards by the Spitfires and set the stage for McConnell-Barker’s game winner in overtime.
Nordh was in on both goals, picking up the secondary assist on the overtime winner for the Greyhounds.
Miller kept the Spitfires at bay in the game, stopping 23 shots in the contest.
“We still gave up some significant chances tonight and Millsy bails us out and gives us an opportunity to win a game,” Dean said.
Costanzo stopped 35 shots for Windsor.
The Greyhounds now prepare for a three-game road trip that will take the team to St. Catharines on Thursday night to face the Niagara IceDogs before the team faces the Erie Otters on Friday night in Erie and the Brampton Steelheads Sunday afternoon before returning home.
The Greyhounds will take a 12-9-0-0 record into the road trip.
Windsor falls to 14-5-2-0 with Sunday’s loss.
Ahead of the game, the Greyhounds announced the signing of 2023 sixth round pick Jordan Charron.
Charron started the season with the Greater Ontario League’s Ayr Centennials where he had nine goals and 22 points in 18 games this season.
The 17-year-old also has a commitment to play NCAA hockey at St. Lawrence University.
Dean said he was pleased with Charron’s play in his first OHL game and credited the play of Charron’s line, which included Tate Vader and Carson Andrew in Sunday’s victory.
“They bought us some breathing space for our other lines to find their legs in the third period,” Dean said.