Overtime and shootout games weren’t something the Soo Greyhounds wanted to see as the Ontario Hockey League regular season continued into December, but in the past week, a couple of games may have changed that.
After picking up their first overtime win in five opportunities last Friday at home, the Greyhounds picked up their first shootout win, also in their fifth shootout of the season on Thursday night.
Mark Duarte scored the shootout winner as the Greyhounds beat the North Bay Battalion 4-3 on Thursday at the North Bay Memorial Gardens.
Duarte beat North Bay goaltender Charlie Robertson with a shot glove side that ended the shootout and lifted the Greyhounds to their third straight win.
“It’s been 10 days of getting over hurdles,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean.
“I’m just so proud of these guys,” Dean added. “Down 1-0 12 seconds in, come back, lose the lead, and then go win in a shootout…the script on these guys has to be that they are one of the most resilient groups I’ve ever coached.”
Duarte said that, prior to the winning streak, the team was confident in its game.
“We know we’ve been playing good hockey,” Duarte said. “We’re hard to play against and teams know that. Obviously, these wins help (add confidence), knowing we can beat any team in this league at any time.”
“Obviously, when you win, it builds confidence,” said overage forward Kalvyn Watson. “Especially in those situations where we’ve struggled throughout the year, those overtime games and shootout games.”
Watson agreed that the team is maturing of late.
“Definitely, there’s some maturity in the room,” Watson said. “It’s different approach. Guys are taking things more seriously. They understand the rituals and it’s good to have everyone on board and all going the same way.”
Dean said that early on in the game, the Greyhounds did a good job sticking to their identity when it comes to their half-ice game.
“I really liked the first half of our game,” Dean said. “We did an excellent job of squeezing then in their zone.”
Dean added that he felt North Bay “made a really good adjustment.”
“They started pushing us out of their zone,” Dean added. “We started cheating a bit when we were down 2-0 in the second period, and they got a lot of chances off the rush. They really separated us and spread us out.”
Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen gave full credit to the Greyhounds in the game.
“They play a little bit differently than teams we have seen; high pace and pressure hockey,” Oulahen said in an interview with BayToday. “We had a hard time feeling that out.
“I really liked our second period, and then for whatever reason, maybe we thought the game was over, a goal late in the second sunk the momentum we were getting, and we didn’t get that extra point, but we found a way to get one.”
North Bay wasted little time getting on the board as Anthony Romani took a pass in the left faceoff circle from Liam Arnsby in the corner and beat Greyhounds starter Samuel Ivanov glove side just 12 seconds in.
The Battalion took a 2-0 lead at 5:15 of the second period when Justin Ertel scored on a wide-open net to finish off a three-way passing play with Josh Bloom and Kyle Jackson. Ertel finished off the play after a pair of passes between Bloom and Jackson as the Battalion moved into the Sault zone.
The Greyhounds cut the lead to 2-1 with 1:02 to go in the period when Bryce McConnell-Barker took a pass in the left faceoff circle from Watson and proceeded to beat North Bay goaltender Charlie Robertson short side.
In the opening minute of the third period, the Greyhounds took advantage of a power play to tie the game. Watson moved into the high slot and took a pass from Kirill Kudryavtsev and beat Robertson stick side 55 seconds into the period.
Duarte gave the Greyhounds the lead at 7:56 when he went to the net and redirected a pass from Justin Cloutier in the right circle.
North Bay tied the game with 1:37 to go as Matvey Petrov beat Ivanov through traffic from the left circle on a one-timer after a pass from defenceman Ty Nelson.
After skating through a scoreless overtime frame, McConnell-Barker and Jackson traded goals early in the shootout before Duarte capped off the win for the Greyhounds.
Watson finished the night with a goal and an assist and has six goals in his last three games.
“It’s exciting to see Watty flourish right now,” Dean said. “There’s a different body language and a different look in his eye. Something is going on there and Watty is making the most of his last kick at the can here.”
Ivanov made 35 saves in the victory and also stopped three of four shooters in the shootout.
Dean called Ivanov “the best player on the ice.”
“I’m not sure I can sum (his play) up any better than that,” Dean added. “There’s no doubt that Samuel Ivanov was the best player on the ice.”
Tyler Savard picked up a pair of assists for the Greyhounds.
Jackson had a paid of assists for the Battalion while Robertson stopped 32 shots.
With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 9-10-4-4 on the season.
The road trip continues for the Greyhounds on Friday night when the team is in Oshawa to take on the Generals before wrapping up the weekend in Owen Sound on Sunday afternoon with a game against the Attack.
Thursday’s loss drops North Bay’s record to 18-8-0-1.