Disappointing seems to be an understatement.
After taking the lead thanks to a shorthanded goal in the third period, the Soo Greyhounds surrendered a late goal in regulation and proceeded to drop a 5-4 shootout decision to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
A shootout goal by Nick Lardis was the difference, but it was a late goal in regulation where they took advantage of a defensive-zone turnover that got the Bulldogs to overtime thanks to a strong effort by Cole Brown late in regulation time.
For the Greyhounds, the mistakes couldn’t have come at a worse time with the team holding a one-goal lead and in need of points in the standings.
“We’ve got older guys making huge mistakes on the ice in critical minutes,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “I don’t know if we deserved to win that game, but we shouldn’t have lost it up 4-3 (late). I’m not sure what some of the guys were thinking.”
Dean said Saturday’s loss was similar to Friday’s loss against Flint in some ways.
“It looked similar to last night in terms of guys not sticking to structure, playing an individual game over a team game, unwilling to put pucks in behind the other team’s D,” Dean said. “It’s very disappointing.”
Hamilton coach Jay McKee told reporters following the game how proud he was of his team bouncing back after falling behind in the third.
“That was two resilient clubs out there,” McKee said. “We had the lead there for a bit by a couple and they found a way and dig and found a way to claw back. It was tough seeing them score while we were on the power play late in the game. I’m pretty proud of the guys. It’s a young group we’ve got here. For them to not give up and stick with it, I’m proud of them for that.”
To get to the shootout, the Bulldogs killed off a pair of Greyhound power plays in overtime, one lingering from the final minute of regulation time.
“Patrick Thomas and Lawson Sherk did a lot of that for us last year through our championship run, so they have quite a bit of experience of being in that situation,” McKee said. “They’re two guys I can lean on with a lot of confidence. That was huge, shutting them down there, when we were disciplined for most of the game and then take penalties late.”
Hamilton opened the scoring as Brown scored on a loose puck in close, beating Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov stick side after a wraparound attempt by Marek Vanacker was unsuccessful at 14:36 of the opening period.
Brenden Sirizzotti tied the game for the Greyhounds at 3:42 of the second period when he beat Bulldogs goaltender Matteo Drobac high short side.
Hamilton retook the lead at 4:56 when Ben Bujold banged in a rebound at the edge of the crease after Ivanov stopped Bujold initially on the play.
Not long after the Greyhounds killed off a Hamilton two-man advantage, the Bulldogs made it a 3-1 game as Sahil Panwar hit Nick Lardis with a pass and Lardis proceeded to beat Ivanov glove side.
With the teams playing 4-on-4, Bryce McConnell-Barker pulled the Greyhounds to within one as he beat Drobac from the slot high stick side at 18:04.
The Greyhounds tied the game on the next shift with the teams still playing 4-on-4 as Sirizzotti beat Drobac high glove side after taking a pass from Marco Mignosa on a 2-on-1.
With the Greyhounds shorthanded, Alex Kostov made it 4-3 Greyhounds as he redirected a pass from Jordan D’Intino on the left wing past Drobac at 12:01 of the third.
Hamilton tied the game at four when Brown drove the net and took a pass from Bujold before sliding a backhand past Ivanov glove side with 2:08 to go in regulation time.
“He has the ability to score goals,” McKee said of Brown. “We see it in practice all the time. He’s still a young player at 17, but he’s kind of heating up here lately. He’s a guy that, in a scenario like that, we’d like to see him with the puck. He’s got good hands around the net.”
In addition to the two-goal night for Sirizzotti, Mignosa assisted on a pair of goals for the Greyhounds.
Ivanov stopped 27 shots for the Greyhounds in the loss.
Brown had a pair of goals and also opened the Hamilton scoring in the shootout while Bujold had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs.
McKee called Saturday the best game Bujold has played since joining the team from London prior to the trade deadline.
“He’s a kid that works really hard and brings a really positive attitude,” McKee said.
Drobac made 23 saves and stopped two of the three Greyhounds shooters in the shootout.
The Greyhounds are now off until Friday when they host the Sarnia Sting in a 7:07 p.m. start at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
Saturday’s loss drops the Greyhounds record to 14-17-7-5 on the season. The team had an opportunity to pull into a tie with the Guelph Storm for seventh in the OHL’s Western Conference with the Storm idle on Saturday, but now sit one point back.
The point for the shootout loss puts the Greyhounds four points ahead of the Kitchener Rangers for eighth in the conference after Kitchener lost on the road in Sarnia. The Rangers have four games in hand on the Greyhounds.
Hamilton improves to 19-19-4-0 with the win and moves two points back of the Mississauga Steelheads and Kingston Frontenacs in the Eastern Conference. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs are three points ahead of the Sudbury Wolves.