SAULT STE. MARIE - While their ultimate goal is a long way off yet, Thursday was the first in what the Soo Greyhounds hope will be a lot of playoff wins this spring.
A goal late in the second period by Gavin Hayes on the power play held up as the game winner as the Greyhounds beat the Guelph Storm 4-3 at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The win gives the Greyhounds an early lead in their best-of-seven first round series with the Storm on the opening day of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
It wasn’t a night that was entirely perfect for the Greyhounds though.
The Greyhounds lost overage forward Jack Beck early in the game after he took a hit from Guelph's Max Namestnikov deep in the Guelph zone.
Asked about the hit following the game, Greyhounds coach John Dean said it was “an egregious hit.”
“Targeting the best player on the team,” Dean added.
Dean said he felt the injury could be serious and said he expects the league will review the play.
“We don’t know the situation for Jack. I can almost guarantee you that he probably doesn’t play game two,” Dean said. “That’s disgusting."
Storm coach Chad Wiseman told reporters following the game that he hadn’t had a chance to look at a replay of the hit.
“I’m sure that’s something that the league will get called in, but there was no call on the ice,” Wiseman said. “The officiating, I thought, was fair tonight.”
Overall, Dean was pleased with the effort from his club in the win.
“It was a difficult first period, given some circumstances that happened,” Dean said. “I liked the way that some of our leadership grabbed the bench and really took over the style of play and the vocal leadership was incredible.”
Dean added that in the final two periods, he felt the Greyhounds “amped up our game and make a few adjustments that were successful for us.”
“We started to hunt,” Dean added. “We started to be physical.”
Dean also said he felt the hit “poked the bear there in the first period.”
Result notwithstanding, Wiseman said there were some positives for the Storm in their playoff opener.
“I liked the way we played today,” Wiseman said.
“For a team that generates shots the way they do, to keep them to 20-plus shots there, I didn’t think we gave them a lot of Grade A opportunities,” Wiseman added. “I liked our game defensively.”
Both coaches agreed that a stretch by the Greyhounds that saw the home team score twice in 25 seconds in the second period played a role in the outcome.
“It’s big,” Dean said. “Anytime you’re competing exceptionally hard and you find a way to get rewarded, it reinforces what you’re doing. To get those two goals back-to-back, you could just see the bench lift.”
“It’s a momentum swing,” Wiseman said. “You have to find a way to refocus and move on and not look back on those unfortunate plays.”
While on the power play, the Storm opened the scoring in the late stages of the first period.
With Spencer Evans serving a double minor for a high stick on Namestnikov, Jake Karabela got the puck in tight and went between his legs before sliding the puck past Greyhounds starter Charlie Schenkel in the second half of the penalty at 14:09.
The Greyhounds tied the game at one in the second period as Arttu Karki jumped on a loose puck in the slot and beat Storm goaltender Damian Slavik at 7:31.
Karki took a penalty after the goal and on the ensuing power play, Guelph retook the lead. Michael Buchinger beat Schenkel from the high slot at 8:31 to make it a 2-1 game.
On the next shift, Bryce McConnell-Barker won a race to the puck on a dump in and tapped the puck past Slavik at the side of the Guelph goal at 9:46 to tie the game at two.
The Greyhounds took a 3-2 lead as Owen Allard took a pass in the slot from Marco Mignosa and beat Slavik 25 seconds later.
Guelph tied the game at three at 12:14 after Matthew Virgilio took a hit below the goalline and the puck got to Brody Crane in the slot and he beat Slavik.
The Greyhounds took the lead on the power play as Gavin Hayes went to the net on a 3-on-0 and took a pass from McConnell-Barker and beat Slavik on a deke to the stick side at 14:49.
McConnell-Barker and Hayes had a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds while Kirill Kudryavtsev assisted on a pair of goals.
Schenkel made 14 saves in the win.
Buchinger finished the night with a goal and an assist for the Storm.
Slavik stopped 18 shots.
Game two in the series goes Saturday night in the Sault before shifting to Guelph for games three and four on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
