“There’s a healthy confidence in that room.”
That was from Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean after his team picked up its second consecutive shutout in a 6-0 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night at the Leon’s Centre in Kingston.
“We’ve got a group to believe in what we’re doing here,” Dean said. “We lost out way a few times (but) always got back to our structure, being relentless. There’s a huge belief in that room.”
“There’s a really good swagger right now,” Dean added.
In addition to capitalizing on their opportunities, the game also saw rookie goaltender Landon Miller pick up his first career OHL shutout in the win.
Miller stopped all 26 shots he faced for the Greyhounds, who have now recorded shutouts in back-to-back games after Charlie Schenkel helped blank the Peterborough Petes on Thursday in Peterborough.
“It feels great,” Miller said of the shutout. “We had a good night as a team and it was nice to get a win. The shutout is just a cherry on top.”
“The confidence comes from practice, just working as hard as I can there and it will translate into a game eventually,” Miller also said.
Miller said that killing off a 5-on-3 Frontenacs man advantage in the second period was an added confidence boost, adding that the potential of a shutout was on his mind after the kill.
“I like to stay positive and stay loose out there,” Miller said. “That five-on-three penalty kill there kind of sparked some momentum and then after that, it was definitely on my mind a little bit for sure, but you try not to worry about that stuff and just play the game.”
“That’s a big kill and it’s not easy to do,” Miller also said.
Dean praised Miller’s game as well following the victory.
“He looked big, he looked confident,” Dean said of the rookie netminder. “He really controlled the puck. Everything got sent to the corners or was dead right on his pads. He’s unbelievable at puck touches. He might, as a young goalie right now, be one of the better puck handlers in the league. You don’t realize how much that helps us on our breakouts and how little time we spend in our own end when a goalie can get pucks along the yellow rudder behind the net.”
Dean added that he felt the 5-on-3 kill was “the turning point in the hockey game.”
“(Kingston) could have some life there and claw their way back into the game and we shut it down,” Dean said.
Asked about the Greyhounds defensive game, Dean called it “part of our identity.”
“I know everyone’s talking about how many goals we score, but defensively we’ve been very, very good,” Dean said.
Veteran forward Marco Mignosa added that the defensive side of the game for the team “starts in practice.”
“We practice how we play, and we believe in our defensive zone structure,” Mignosa said. “All the guys have been pretty dialed in with it right now, so things are clicking well.”
Much like Thursday’s game in Peterborough, the game went scoreless through the opening period before the Greyhounds opened the scoring in the middle frame in Friday’s contest as well.
Greyhounds captain Bryce McConnell-Barker took a breakaway pass from linemate Jack Beck and proceeded to beat Kingston starter Mason Vaccari 5-hole at 3:41. The play started after the Greyhounds grabbed a turnover at the Kingston blueline.
After killing off the 5-on-3, Justin Cloutier sends Owen Allard in alone. Allard proceeded to beat Vaccari 5-hole at 12:26 to make it 2-0.
The Greyhounds took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room as Julian Fantino beat Vaccari from the right faceoff circle on a rebound after the Kingston netminder stopped a shot by Allard from the left faceoff circle initially in the final minute of the period.
With the Greyhounds on the power play, Arttu Karki made it 4-0 at 6:59, beating Vaccari on a one-timer from the right faceoff circle on a pass from Mignosa.
Rookie defenceman Spencer Evans made it a 5-0 game 41 seconds later as he skated into the left faceoff circle and beat Vaccari low glove side for his first OHL marker.
Mignosa extended the lead 27 seconds later with the Greyhounds shorthanded. The veteran forward grabbed a turnover by Kingston defenceman Quinton Burns and then beat Vaccari on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 6-0.
Mignosa finished the night with a goal and two assists to lead the Greyhounds offensively.
Allard and Fantino added a goal and an assist each while Cloutier and Beck assisted on a pair of goals each for the Greyhounds.
For the Frontenacs, Vaccari made 36 saves in the loss.
The Greyhounds wrap up their three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in the nation’s capital when they take on the Ottawa 67’s in the second meeting between the two clubs in just over a week.
The win improves the Greyhounds record to 7-3-0-0 through 10 games, which includes back-to-back shutout wins since the team dropped back-to-back games last weekend against Ottawa and Owen Sound.
Kingston falls to 3-6-0-0 with the loss.