While they were in the game throughout, struggling to generate shots on goal was the downfall of the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday night.
Trailing by a goal with 20 minutes to go, the Greyhounds generated just a pair of shots in the final period of a 3-1 Ontario Hockey League loss to the Barrie Colts at Sadlon Arena in Barrie.
It was a night where the team struggled early on – the team was outshot 15-5 in the opening period and trailed 1-0 through 20 minutes – and it was tough to rebound in the final 40 minutes.
“The generating comes from the defensive side of the puck,” said overage forward Kalvyn Watson. “(In) the first period, we gave up too much. That resulted in us not getting enough chances.”
Watson added that he felt there was an improvement in the final two periods from an effort standpoint.
“The way we played in the second and the third period was obviously better than our first,” Watson said.
Greyhounds coach John Dean said that, from an effort standpoint, he was pleased with his team after coming out “flat” in the opening period.
“They competed as hard as a group can compete right until the final buzzer,” Dean said.
Dean agreed that the Greyhounds didn’t generate enough offensively in the game.
“We didn’t generate enough opportunities. We didn’t get enough pucks to the net,” Dean said. “(Barrie) did a really good job against our forecheck and we did a poor job getting pucks in behind their D.”
“By no means are we excited about the game, but we’re excited about the character of our group,” Dean also said.
Former Greyhound Tyler Savard, dealt to the Colts a week before the OHL trade deadline, said he was looking forward to Saturday’s contest.
“As soon as I got traded here, this one was marked on the calendar for me,” Savard, who scored in the win, said following the game in an interview with RogersTV. “I started with no points in my first four games, but I was trying to be a pro player and do things right.:
Barrie opened the scoring with 1:12 to go in the opening period when Callum Chisholm took a pass from Zach Wigle after a defensive-zone turnover by the Greyhounds, skated through the left faceoff circle and beat Greyhounds goaltender Samuel Ivanov glove side.
The Colts went up by a pair when Savard picked up his first goal with his new club after an early-January trade just under six minutes into the second period. Set up in the right side of the slot, Savard took a cross-slot pass from Brandt Clarke after the latter skated through the slot and beat Ivanov for his 10th goal of the season.
While on the power play late in the period, the Greyhounds pulled back to within one goal as Watson banked the puck in off Colts goaltender Anson Thornton while looking to go cross-crease with 1:58 to go in the second period.
With 1:01 to go in regulation time and Ivanov on the bench for the extra attacker, Colts defenceman Artur Cholach sealed the win for the Colts with his third goal of the season.
Ivanov made 27 saves for the Greyhounds, including 14 in the opening period.
“We gave up a lot of Grade A chances,” Dean said when asked about Ivanov. “He took away some surefire goals.”
“It was a solid game,” Ivanov said of his effort. “I had good confidence throughout the game”
Thornton stopped 14 shots for Barrie.
The Greyhounds will wrap up their weekend road trip on Sunday afternoon in Sudbury with a game against the Wolves and will take a 12-16-7-4 record into the game.
The team continues to battle the Guelph Storm and Kitchener Rangers for playoff positioning in the OHL’s Western Conference.
The Storm remain four points ahead of the Greyhounds for seventh. Also in action on Saturday, the Storm dropped a 6-4 decision to the Owen Sound Attack in Owen Sound. The Greyhounds have two games in hand on Guelph.
The Rangers, three points behind the Greyhounds for eighth, were off on Saturday and have four games in hand on the Sault.
The Rangers dropped a 5-2 decision in Oshawa against the Generals on Friday night and are in action on Sunday on the road in Saginaw against the Spirit.
With the win, the Colts improve to 21-10-4-2 and remain one point ahead of the Peterborough Petes for third in the Eastern Conference after the Petes also won on Saturday night.
On the injury front for the Greyhounds, Andrew Gibson missed Saturday’s game due to injury. Gibson took a hit from North Bay Battalion forward Kyle McDonald during the second period of Thursday’s game in North Bay.
Dean said Gibson was on his way back to the Sault to be evaluated and the seriousness of his injury wasn’t yet known.