Greyhounds look for improvements following win (video, 12 photos)

The result was the most pleasing part of the night.

How it got there wasn’t necessarily ideal for the Soo Greyhounds in a 5-1 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Saginaw Spirit on Wednesday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

The Greyhounds scored four times in the third period, there were certainly some positives, but the game provided some keys to work on for a Greyhounds team that’s sitting atop the OHL’s West Division.

With the game tight heading into the final period, Greyhounds coach John Dean said he was “really happy with our response in the third.”

“If we want to be a big-picture team and a team that’s going to go on, hopefully, a decent playoff run, we need to be better in our own end,” Dean added. “We need to be better on our exits. (Saginaw) had a lot of zone time against us and that’s a credit to Saginaw.”

“We had chances to score, and the game could have been different, but they had some chances as well,” Dean added.

Asked about the response in the third period, Dean said that as much as there are positives to come out of the game, the team wants to be better.

“I’m happy that we found a way to put pucks in the net,” Dean said. “There are a lot of positives to come out of that game. We’re still not happy with that third period. We need to be better in our own end, show more confidence and poise. We need to start finishing games convincingly.”

For the Spirit, the game had some positives for a young roster.

“We did a lot of things that we’re excited about as a group,” Saginaw coach Chris Lazary said. “There’s a lot of things that we’ve been focusing on and trying to be better at that were in that game.”

Lazary said that he was excited “about some of the things we did” but called goaltender Tristan Lennox “the best player in that game.”

Lennox made 36 saves for the Spirit, which included 29 through the opening two periods, which saw the Greyhounds come out with just a 1-0 lead before the scoring opened up in the third period.

“We know he’s a good goalie and he’s going to make key saves,” said Greyhounds defenceman Robert Calisti about Lennox. “That’s kind of been the key for us all year is to just stick with it and stick to our gameplan. When we do that for 60 minutes, we’re very confident that we can beat anyone in this league.”

The Spirit played the game minus some veterans in defenceman Roberto Mancini and forwards Davis Codd and Justin O’Donnell while rookies Carson Christy and Matthew Jovanovic also remain out of the lineup due to injury.

Lazary said fatigue was a factor as the game wore on with the team playing with 11 forwards and five defencemen.

“Our guys are in good shape, but it’s tough to play at the pace that we want to play at when you’re playing the minutes that you are,” Lazary said.

The Greyhounds took the lead 6:41 into the contest when Tanner Dickinson skated into the right circle and beat Saginaw netminder Tristan Lennox moments after a neutral zone turnover by the Spirit.

The Greyhounds appeared to go up 2-0 early in the second period when Keegan McMullen jumped on a loose puck in the slot and beat Lennox glove side, but the goal was called back due to an offside on the play after video review.

Through two periods with the game tight, Dean said staying the course was the message between periods.

“When you’re a player or coach, you’re looking at your game and asking ‘Is what we’re doing generating opportunities for us to score?’” Dean said. “And the answer is yes. The formula was there. There was no reason to go outside of that formula. Just stick with it and bear down on our chances is what we talked about. We have to bear down and have a little more swagger when we have those opportunities.”

Calisti would make it 2-0 Greyhounds early in the third when he drove the net and redirected a pass on the right wing from Rory Kerins 52 seconds into the third period.

Rookie defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev made it 3-0 at 4:28 when he skated into the slot untouched before beating Lennox for his third goal of the season.

Saginaw cut the lead to 3-1 at 10:32 when Sebastien Gervais scored on a rebound after Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov stopped the initial chance by Pacey Schlueting cutting through the crease on the play.

Kerins made it 4-1 Greyhounds when he scored on a chance from the right side after Kartye deflected a point shot in the slot that found its way to Kerins.

Cole MacKay made it 5-1 just 30 seconds later when he moved in on a 2-on-1 and beat Lennox high glove.

Kerins and MacKay finished the night with a goal and two assists each while Dickinson and Kudryavtsev had one of each for the Greyhounds.

Ivanov made 20 saves for the Greyhounds.

“Timely goaltending,” Dean said when asked about Ivanov. “Saginaw had some really good zone time and some good chances, specifically in that first 10 minutes of the second period. They were very sharp, and Sammy ultimately did what he’s supposed to do.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 22-12-2-1 and move five points up on the Flint Firebirds and seven points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires atop the OHL’s West Division.

The Spitfires, who have four games in hand on the Greyhounds following Wednesday night’s game, are scheduled to face the Sarnia Sting on Thursday night in Windsor.

Ethan Montroy remains out for the Greyhounds due to injury with his status on returning remaining week-to-week.

The loss drops Saginaw’s record to 14-20-1-0.

The Spirit sit ninth in the OHL’s Western Conference, one point behind the Kitchener Rangers for the final playoff spot in the conference.

The Greyhounds continue a three-game homestand on Friday night with a game against Flint before it wraps up the following night against the Barrie Colts.

Puck drop for both contests at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 7:07 p.m.