Greyhounds pick up 'pretty gritty win' on road

For an inexperienced team still finding its way, the Soo Greyhounds wrapped up a stretch of four games on the road in seven days on a positive note.

The Greyhounds picked up a 2-1 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Sudbury Wolves on Wednesday night at Sudbury Community Arena.

With the win, the team wraps up the four-game stretch with two wins and two losses.

Greyhounds coach John Dean called Wednesday’s victory “a pretty gritty win by our guys.”

While there were things he didn’t like in the game, Dean spoke of the Greyhounds showing a relentless game in the offensive zone while also being more aggressive defensively in the win.

“We were a little bit more relentless in the offensive zone than normal,” Dean said. “There were times that our defensive zone was more aggressive and better. The reality is there’s still lots for us to work on, but we got by on a bit of grit tonight and great goaltending.”

A goal late in the second period by Kalvyn Watson held up as the game winner for the visitors.

“It’s obviously awesome when you’re able to contribute,” Watson said. “It’s definitely important that I’m one of the guys that’s someone that’s going to be relied on to contribute.”

With 11 points through 13 games, Watson sits second on the team in scoring following Wednesday’s contest.

For Dean, discipline was a positive in the game as well. The team took three minor penalties in the game, one of which was an offsetting minor. The Greyhounds held the Wolves off the scoresheet on both power play opportunities.

“When you’re moving your feet and you’re skating hard, generally you play disciplined,” Dean said. “You’re on top of pucks. You’re not in 50-50 foot races so you don’t have your sticks out. You’re not taking those tripping penalties. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Dean added that he was pleased with his team’s willingness to draw the line when it came to post-whistle scrums as well.

After a scoreless opening period, the Greyhounds got on the board first as overage forward Kalvyn Watson looked to hit Marco Mignosa with a back-door pass on the power play. The pass proceeded to deflect off the skate of a Sudbury player and past Wolves goaltender Joe Ranger at 2:23.

Just 2:27 later, the Wolves tied the game as defenceman Nolan Collins skated into the high slot, took a pass from Landon McCallum and beat Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov stick side.

With 2:52 to go in the period, Watson gave the Greyhounds a 2-1 lead as he took a turnover near the Sault blueline down the ice. After his initial shot from the right win was stopped by Ranger, the overage forward followed up and scored on the rebound short side to give the visitors the lead.

Watson said the goal developed initially as he got into a lane that "caused (the defenceman) to fumble it a little bit.”

Dean added that the goal was “from hard-nosed defensive zone coverage.”

“He goes at the defenceman and makes a play,” Dean added. “It’s really nice to see him get rewarded for playing hard defensively.”

Making his fourth start of the season, Ivanov made 28 saves for the Greyhounds in the victory.

Ivanov credited his teammates following the game for their efforts in the final minutes of the contest with the result still in doubt.

“They blocked shots very effectively and made themselves look very big in front of me,” Ivanov said.

The veteran netminders play didn’t go unnoticed by Dean.

“He was fantastic,” Dean said. “There’s not much to complain about there, that’s for sure. We gave up a lot of Grade A chances, a lot of opportunities against that easily could have changed the game. Sammy looked solid and poised. He gave our group a lot of confidence tonight.”

Ranger finished the night with 25 saves for the Wolves.

The win improves the Greyhounds record to 4-5-3-1 on the season

The Greyhounds return to action this weekend with a pair of games at home. The team will face the Guelph Storm on Friday night before facing the Niagara IceDogs 24 hours later. Both games are 7:07 p.m. puck drops at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

On the injury front, the Greyhounds received some good news in recent days.

After leaving Sunday afternoon’s game against Ottawa, defenceman Luc Brzustowski has been released from hospital and is back in Sault Ste. Marie.

A timeframe on the veteran blueliners return to action remains up in the air.

Also, Wednesday’s game marked the return to action for defenceman Caeden Carlisle, who had missed time due to a lower body injury.

Overage forward Mark Duarte left the game late due to injury.

Dean said it was a lower-body injury but the severity of it wasn’t known following the game and that the veteran forward left the game as a precaution.