When the look back on it, they feel like they did enough to pick up two points in the Ontario Hockey League standings.
In the end just one point is all they would get as the Greyhounds dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the North Bay Battalion at the North Bay Memorial Gardens.
The loss came after the Greyhounds came back to tie the game twice, once from a 2-0 deficit and then when the team was down 4-3 in the latter half of the third period.
Greyhounds coach John Dean called the game “a tough one to swallow.”
“We struggled a bit in the first two period,” Dean said. “It didn’t really look like a Soo Greyhounds game, but we found a way to come back and make it 2-2 despite not having our ‘A’ game. For us to go down again and find a way to tie it up shows a lot of character and we managed to get a point.”
Dean added that he was “really impressed with the heart and character of the group.”
Defenceman Jack Thompson said the team felt “we had two good efforts here.”
“We had our opportunities to win both games, but we couldn’t capitalize,” Thompson added.
Thompson also felt the Greyhounds had enough chances in both games against the Battalion, which included a 5-2 loss on Thursday night, to put the team in a good position.
“We had a lot of grade ‘A’ chances in spots in the game where we could close the game out if that goes in,” Thompson said.
Speaking about Friday’s contest, veteran forward Kalvyn Watson called it “hard when you lose like that.”
“All we can do is just move forward,” Watson added.
North Bay coach Ryan Oulahen was pleased with the start to the game for the Battalion.
“I really liked our first two periods,” Oulahen said in an interview with BayToday. “It’s funny how things go sometimes. If you compare last night’s game to tonight’s, we found our first two periods tonight our best two of these two games together in terms of playing consistently, playing solid.”
“Everyone is buying it, not really anything dangerous other than the two bad bounces that went against us,” Oulahen added.
North Bay got on the board first as Nic Sima took a pass from Dalyn Wakely and got in behind the Greyhounds defenceman on the play before beating goaltender Samuel Ivanov 5-hole at 5:30 of the opening period.
The Battalion took a 2-0 lead when Matvey Petrov took a pass in the lower left circle from Brandon Coe and beat Tucker Tynan short side on the power play at 16:16
Tynan entered the game after an injury suffered by Ivanov.
The Greyhounds got on the board in the second period when Rory Kerins won a race to a loose puck and hit Marco Mignosa in the slot with a pass. Mignosa proceeded to beat North Bay goaltender Joe Vrbetic glove side to make it 2-1 North Bay at 5:59.
Watson tied the game for the Greyhounds when he jumped on a mishandled puck near the North Bay blueline, skated into the slot and beat Vrbetic at 13:58.
At 4:55 of the third, Watson picked up his second goal of the night when he took a pass in the slot from Bryce McConnell-Barker in the right corner before beating Vrbetic
North Bay tied the game at three when Anthony Romani jumped on a rebound in the slot after Tynan made the initial stop on the play on Nikita Tarasevich on the left wing at 11:19.
Just 24 seconds later Dalyn Wakely gave North Bay the lead when he took a pass in the slot from Owen Outwater and beat Tynan stick side to make it 4-3.
The Greyhounds tied the game at 14:27 when Tye Kartye got in behind the North Bay defencemen ad took a pass from Kerins before sliding a backhand past Vrbetic.
“We obviously don’t like to give up two quick ones, but we responded well,” Thompson said of the Greyhounds tying the game.
“Hockey’s a roller-coaster and you have to stay even keel,” Watson added. “You can’t get too high or too low so you can bounce back from it.
Petrov gave the Battalion the win when he took a feed in the left faceoff circle and beat Tynan in the final minute of overtime.
Ivanov came out of the game during the media timeout in the opening period due to injury. The rookie netminder was hurt earlier in the period but stayed in the game for a short time before coming out.
Ivanov stopped five of six shots before coming out of the game 12:29 in.
Dean said the extent of Ivanov’s injury wasn’t known following the game and his status for the rest of the road trip remains up in the air at this point.
Tynan made 13 saves the rest of the way for the Greyhounds.
Rookie defenceman Luc Brzustowski assisted on three goals in the loss while Kerins had a pair of helpers.
Vrbetic made 32 saves for North Bay.
Coe and Ty Nelson had a paid of assists each for North Bay.
Petrov finished the two-game set between the two clubs with four goals.
“He’s a great hockey player,” Dean said. “He’s got a real knack for finding those soft areas on the weak side far post. That’s his home.”
With the loss, the Greyhounds fall to 23-13-4-1.
With 51 points, the team sits one point ahead of the Flint Firebirds and five points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires for top spot in the OHL’s West Division.
Flint picked up a 5-2 win over the Kitchener Rangers on Friday while Windsor dropped a 5-1 decision on the road to the London Knights.
North Bay improves to 22-15-3-3 with the win and remain in second in the OHL’s Central Division.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon in the opening game of a pair against the Sudbury Wolves in Sudbury. The second meeting between the two clubs is set for Tuesday night at Sudbury Community Arena.
“We have to bear down on our chances. That’s the big thing we can take away (from the games against North Bay),” Dean said “I don’t think there’s a change in gameplan or a change in attitude. I’m impressed with how hard these guys worked. I’m impressed with their character, our style of play.”
On the injury front for the Greyhounds, overage defenceman Robert Calisti, overage forward Cole MacKay, rookie forward Ethan Montroy, and veteran forward Tanner Dickinson remained out due to injuries.
Dean said Thursday he was hopeful that Calisti and MacKay could return to the lineup sooner rather than later.