In the end, the result was more important to them than most would expect.
Coming off a disappointing loss in their first road game of the 2023-24 Ontario Hockey League season on Friday night, The Soo Greyhounds were looking to rebound on Saturday, and rebound they did, picking up a 7-3 win over the Flint Firebirds at the Dort Financial Center in Flint.
The game wasn’t without its issues for the visiting side though.
Especially pleased with the final period, Greyhounds coach John Dean spoke following the win of a “very sloppy 40 minutes” to start the game.
The number of scoring chances the team gave up early on was a concern, especially in an opening period that saw them get outshot 17-10.
“We did get better as the game went on, but that seems to be the story,” Dean said. “It caught up to us last night (in Sarnia). Tonight, Landon (Miller) bails us out in the first and we found our skill. We don’t want to depend on that every night.”
Overage forward Jordan D’Intino, who had a five-point night for the Greyhounds in the victory, spoke of the start being important in the final stanza.
“We knew they were going to come (in the third), and it was just the start,” D’Intino said. “My line got one early and then (Justin) Cloutier followed with a beauty and that kind of took the life out of them from there.”
Cloutier said Saturday’s win was a critical one after Friday night’s loss in Sarnia based on the mindset of the team.
“It was necessary,” Cloutier said. “We had to get that win. We all knew what was at stake.”
With the team up by a pair of goals heading into the third period, Cloutier said the team made some adjustments after the second period.
“It was a little bit sloppy,” Cloutier said of the first two periods. “Guys weren’t stopping on pucks. Our D zone wasn’t great either, but the skilled team that we are, we’re able to put some goals up on the board, but moving forward, that’s something we have to do from the start is tight defensive zone and stop on pucks.”
The veteran forward added that tightening up in the defensive zone made a difference in the third.
For the Firebirds, a team that got outscored 19-3 over two games on the opening weekend of the OHL regular season, the focus is going to be more on the good from Saturday’s loss.
“We have to be a little more process-oriented right now and focus on the good things,” Flint coach Paul Flache said in an interview with the Firebirds Hockey Network following the game. “There was a lot of improvement, a lot more possession time, we did good things in the offensive zone. The game could have gone either way when it was 3-3.”
The Greyhounds opened the scoring as Bryce McConnell-Barker jumped on a turnover and beat Flint goaltender Nathan Day 51 seconds into the hockey game.
Flint tied the game just under five minutes later when Kaden Pitre drove the net and beat after the latter stopped a shot by Jeremy Martin from the slot initially.
D’Intino proceeded to make it a 2-1 game at 9:12 when jumped on a dump-in the redirected into the slot from the left corner. D’Intino beat a Flint defenceman to the puck and then beat Day.
Flint again tied it as Matthew Wang follows up his initially blocked shot from the slot and beats Miller on the second chance at 12:41.
The Greyhounds took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission as Arttu Karki entered the Flint zone as the trailer on an odd-man rush. Karki took a pass from Jack Beck on the left wing and beat Day with a one-timer from the high slot 34 seconds after Wang’s goal,
Flint tied the game at three in the second period when Jeremy Martin beat Miller glove side on a breakaway after McConnell-Barker couldn't handle the puck at the Flint blueline. The goal came at 6:32.
The Greyhounds retook the lead at 13:40 when Justin Cloutier beat Day with a one-timer off a pass from Owen Allard on a 2-on-1.
With the Greyhounds on the power play, D’Intino made it a 5-3 game with a power play marker at 17:39. D’Intino slipped into the right faceoff circle and beat Day with a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Allard.
D’Intino scored his third of the night 39 seconds into the third period. The overage forward took a shot from the right faceoff circle from a sharp angle that handcuffed Day and slipped over the goalline.
With the Greyhounds down a man, Cloutier picked up his second of the night. The veteran forward deked a Flint player in the right circle to get himself into the slot at 2:34.
D’Intino paced the Greyhounds with five points in the win, adding a pair of assists to his offensive total in addition to the three-goal night.
“It feels amazing,” D’Intino said of the big night. “I just feel like it all came together tonight.”
D’Intino added that the offensive outburst was even more rewarding coming in a victory.
Asked about the overage forward, Dean spoke of D’Intino’s ability to be a go-to scorer for the team, saying “his gift is his shot.”
The overage forward moved onto the Greyhounds top line with McConnell-Barker and Jack Beck for Saturday’s contest.
“Dino fit in perfectly on that line,” Dean said. “His gift is his shot. He’s got an absolute weapon for a shot and when he’s engaged and aggressive in moving his feet and he gets opportunities to shoot the puck in this league as a 20-year-old right now, he’s going to put a lot of those pucks in the net.”
Cloutier had a pair of goals and an assist for the visitors while Beck and Allard chipped in with three assists each. McConnell-Barker also had a multi-point night for the Greyhounds with a goal and an assist.
Making his second start of the season, Miller made 27 saves for the Greyhounds, who improve to 4-1-0-0 with the victory.
“That’s a true first OHL win,” Dean said. “He was under siege there in the first period and he really settles us down.”
Flint falls to 0-3-0-0 with the loss.
Day stopped 20 shots for the Firebirds in the setback.
Offensively, Martin had a goal and an assist.
The game was the first for the Firebirds after the team fired coach Ted Dent earlier this week after an 0-2 start to the season, which included an 11-3 loss to
After an off day on Sunday, the Greyhounds return to action on Monday afternoon in Windsor against the Spitfires before returning home for games against Ottawa and Owen Sound next weekend.
For Dean, the approach to getting ready for Monday’s game and attempting to carry over the play from Saturday’s final period will be “a compare and contrast.”
“We’ve tried a lot of different things with these guys in terms of whether it’s positive video or constructive criticism,” Dean said. “We’re trying to find what really clicks with this group.”
Dean added that some of the focus will be on cleaning up chances against “because we know we’re going to score.”