Greyhounds overcome tough game to pick up overtime win

It wasn’t pretty, but they’re choosing to look at the positives.

In the end, the biggest positive was the end result.

Gavin Hayes converted on an odd-man rush with Jack Beck in the final minute of overtime as the Soo Greyhounds beat the Sudbury Wolves 3-2 in overtime in Ontario Hockey League play at the Sudbury Community Arena Wednesday night.

Greyhounds coach John Dean said the game as a whole was “a hard night on us.”

“The way our guys battled and found a way to get it done, we really built in the second half of the third period,” Dean said.

In the third period, Dean said he saw a team that was “trying to pick each other up.”

“I saw a group trying to simplify,” Dean added. “Clearly, we were fighting it a bit today, but the way they got back to fundamentals, small details in the third period, by all means it wasn’t a masterpiece in the third period either, but you could see the effort and willingness to try to find a way to get two points.”

Dean called the overtime winner by Hayes “a gorgeous goal.”

“Unbelievable patience by Jack. Gavin was on a mission. I think he was upset about the first goal against and the turnover at the blueline,” Dean said. “The poise of Becker is unbelievable, and Gavin is one of the best finishers in the league. A nice way to finish a tough game.”

Both Beck and Hayes had little doubt the puck was getting back to Hayes as he went to the net.

“I thought Gav was going to shoot (initially). He scores almost every shot,” Beck said. “When he gave it to me, I knew I was giving it back. He said after the game that when he gave it to me, he knew right away to get open. We’re starting to get some good chemistry.”

“I gave it to Becker, and I know he’s going to give it back to me,” Hayes added.

“He’s a passer,” Hayes also said. “I gave a quick pass, and I knew I was getting it back.”

The Greyhounds got on the board first in the late stages of the opening period thanks to a goal by Justin Cloutier. The veteran forward beat Sudbury goaltender Marcus Vandenberg with a shot from the slot glove side in the final minute of the frame to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.

The visitors grabbed a 2-0 lead in the middle stanza at Justin DeZoete entered the play late and took a pass from Christopher Brown that deflected off Vandenberg onto DeZoete’s stick. DeZoete proceeded to beat the Sudbury netminder through some traffic in tight 4:45 into the second period.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, the Wolves pulled to within one as Dalibor Dvorsky took a turnover by Gavin Hayes in the Sudbury zone end-to-end before beating Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel 5-hole at 12:56 to make it a 2-1 game.

The Wolves proceeded to tie the game at two before the end of the period as Zacharie Giroux in tight deflected a shot from the high slot by Noah Van Vliet past Schenkel with 1:40 to go in the period.

The teams skated through a scoreless third period, setting the stage for the overtime winner.

After the Greyhounds couldn’t capitalize on a four-minute penalty to Quentin Musty late in regulation that carried into the overtime period, the team capitalized on a late chance in the extra period. Beck skated in on a 2-on-1 and hit Hayes going to the net with a pass. The latter redirected the pass past Vandenberg in the final minute to give the Greyhounds the victory.

Schenkel finished the night with 31 saves for the Greyhounds.

At the other end, Vandenberg made 25 saves for the Wolves.

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 40-16-3-1 on the season. The win took on added importance as the team pulls to within six points of the Saginaw Spirit for top spot in the OHL’s West Division after the Spirit dropped a 3-2 overtime decision in Flint against the Firebirds on Wednesday night.

The Greyhounds have a game in hand on the Spirit and the two teams are scheduled to face each other in Sault Ste. Marie on the final day of the regular season.

The Greyhounds also gain two points on the Western Conference-leading London Knights after the latter dropped a 5-4 result against the Guelph Storm Wednesday.

The Sault also has a game in hand on the Knights and the two teams meet one more time before the end of the regular season as well, a game to be played in London next week.

While the Greyhounds played Wednesday’s game minus veteran defenceman Caeden Carlisle (game two of a league-imposed two-game suspension), Travis Hayes (injury), Marco Mignosa (injury), and Owen Allard (injury) the Wolves also played the game without key players in the lineup.

Allard was injured on Tuesday in practice and missed Wednesday’s game with an upper body injury. Dean said Allard is out day-to-day.

Asked whether Mignosa could dress this weekend, Dean limited his response to the veteran forward being “day-to-day.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the OHL announced lengthy suspensions for a pair of Wolves players.

Nathan Villeneuve was hit with a 15-game suspension while Evan Konyen was suspended for 10 games.

The suspensions come following a league investigation into allegations that a bounty was placed on Barrie Colts defenceman Kashawn Aitcheson following a game between the Wolves and Colts.

“The league became aware of concerning allegations surrounding inappropriate game-related comments shared on a Sudbury Wolves group chat following a game between the Wolves and the Barrie Colts on Jan. 18,” a release from the OHL office said.

“The two players were suspended for violating the OHL’s social media policy “in a manner detrimental to the welfare of the league, one that would greatly compromise player safety and the overall integrity of the game.”