The opening 40 minutes were a struggle at times, but the Soo Greyhounds found a sense of urgency in the final period and, because of that, will move on to round two of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
The Greyhounds scored four unanswered goals in the third period en route to a 7-4 victory over the Owen Sound Attack Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
Thanks to the win, the Greyhounds win the Western Conference quarterfinal series between the two clubs as well, winning the matchup in five games.
Trailing the series with their backs against the wall, the Attack made life difficult for the Greyhounds, especially in the opening two periods.
“Sometimes we made what we would call hope plays,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said of the first two periods. “And those turned into transition plays for them.”
“They came out desperate,” Dean also said. “They came out and did what they’re supposed to do. They pushed us hard. We had lots of opportunities to put the puck in the net, but we were looking to be perfect and, in the playoffs, you can’t look to be perfect.”
Dean credited the Attack in the series and feels the it was good preparation for round two as the Greyhounds prepare to face the Saginaw Spirit.
“They played a great series and gave us fits,” Dean said. “They prepared us for the next round.”
“When our guys decide to really turn up the urgency and really decide to put our foot on the gas, we’re a pretty special team,” Dean said. “That’s probably a lesson to our guys not to wait until their backs are against the wall. We need to play like that right from the drop of the puck.”
The Attack made life even more difficult for the Greyhounds in the third period when Daylon Groulx put the visitors ahead 4-3 6:33 into the third period.
“We were deflated,” Dean said of the goal. “It’s deflating but our veteran leadership took over and our young guys that we were rolling really stepped up to the plate. It was pretty clear that our guys made the decision that it’s not happening here tonight. We’re going to go out there and win the series.”
But just 1:24 after Groulx’s goal, Ryan Roth picked up his first of the playoffs to tie the game and rookie Tye Kartye scored 1:04 after Roth to put the Greyhounds ahead to stay.
Attack coach Alan Letang said the turnaround for the Greyhounds comes with experience.
“That’s having those guys that are calming influences,” Letang said. “All those guys that have been through what they went through last year, that’s when that experience comes in. They can settle the bench down.”
Despite the game five loss, there was a sense of pride for Letang.
“The easiest thing for us in that situation after coming up on the bus being down 3-1, we could have rolled over after a little bit of adversity early on,” Letang said. “But I give them all the credit in the world for how they competed and how they battled. They continue to block shots. They continued to follow the game plan.”
With a pair of goals already in the series, rookie forward Alex Johnston had a goal and an assist in the series-clinching victory on Friday.
“I can’t say enough good things about him and he’s getting rewarded in the playoffs,” Dean said. “That’s playoff-style hockey that he’s played all year and he had a great series.”
Roth also had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds.
Keeghan Howdeshell scored a pair of goals for the Greyhounds while Cole MacKay and Jaromir Pytlik also scored while veteran forward Jaden Peca assisted on three goals.
Greyhounds captain Barrett Hayton chipped in with a pair of assists.
Goaltender Matthew Villalta made 20 saves.
Aidan Dudas scored twice for Owen Sound while Adam McMaster assisted on two goals. Zach Poirier had the other Owen Sound goal.
Mack Guzda finished the night with 24 saves.
The series with the Greyhounds will give the Attack an opportunity to learn going forward with a young team.
“I look back at the last year just when Guzda played in game seven (against the Greyhounds),” Letang said. “I see what he’s learned and how he handled the pressure in this series. He’s taken another step. All the young guys that we have, those guys go through that intensity and see the ups and downs of playoffs. They see the frustrations of playoffs. Now they have something to fall back on when times get tough.”
Zack Trott and Joe Carroll both missed the game due to upper body injuries for the Greyhounds but Dean said both players are out day-to-day.
In other action in the OHL on Friday night, in St. Catharines, Stephen Dhillon made 27 saves as the Niagara IceDogs blanked the North Bay Battalion 4-0. The win caps off a 4-1 series win for the IceDogs. Christian Propp made 53 saves for North Bay. Jason Robertson and Jack Studnicka had a goal and two assists each for Niagara.
The IceDogs took a 3-1 series lead on Thursday night with a 5-3 win in North Bay. Philip Tomasino had a goal and two assists for the IceDogs. Propp made 43 saves for the Battalion.
Also on Thursday night the London Knights capped off a four-game sweep of the Windsor Spitfires with a 5-2 win in Windsor. Adam Boqvist had a pair of goals for the Knights while Alex Formenton assisted on four London goals.
In Sarnia, Blade Jenkins scored at 11:33 of overtime to give the Saginaw Spirit a 5-4 win and a seep of the Sarnia Sting. Brady Gilmour assisted on a pair of goals for the Spirit. Ryan McGregor scored twice for Sarnia.
In Kitchener, the Guelph Storm advanced thanks to a 5-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers, sweeping their opening round series in the process. Alexey Toropchenko scored a pair of goals for the Storm.
In Oshawa, the Oshawa Generals took a 3-1 series lead on the Peterborough Petes thanks to a 5-2 win on Thursday. Anthony Salinitri scored a pair of goals for the Generals. Kyle Keyser made 35 saves for Oshawa. The series is set to resume on Saturday night in Oshawa.
The Ottawa 67’s advanced on Wednesday night by way of a sweep of the Hamilton Bulldogs while the Sudbury Wolves also secured a sweep of the Mississauga Steelheads on Wednesday.
Both Western Conference semifinal matchups are set as the Greyhounds will meet Saginaw while London will face Guelph.
Pending the result of Saturday’s game between Oshawa and Peterborough, the Eastern Conference semifinal matchups will see Ottawa face Sudbury and Niagara face Oshawa, should the Generals hold on to win their series with Peterborough.