4 days Ago By Brad Coccimiglio
They played games late in the Ontario Hockey League regular season that would ultimately decide their fate. Now, they’re in must-win territory to extend their season. The Soo Greyhounds face a 3-1 hole heading to Windsor for game five of their opening round best-of-seven playoff series after the Spitfires scored four unanswered goals in a 4-1 victory at the GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday night.
Result aside, Greyhounds coach John Dean said he was proud of his team following the loss. “I love this team,” Dean said. “They’re obviously feeling defeated right now, which they don’t need to be.
We challenge our guys every night to work as hard as they can without the guarantee of success. Success is never guaranteed and tonight the hockey gods didn’t want to reward these savages.” Offensively, Dean said he felt the Greyhounds “generated more than enough chances to win a hockey game.
” “I’m really happy with opportunity generation,” Dean said. “We did a really good job of creating chances for ourselves to score goals.” Dean added that “two major blunders that end up in the back of our net” was a difference in the game as the Spitfires broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of second period goals in the win.
Spitfires coach Greg Walters called getting the win “one of the proudest moments of the year” for him as the team played minus multiple regulars in the lineup due to injuries. “Seven guys out and these kids go and battle like that against a really good hockey team,” Walters added. “Blocked so many shots tonight.
It’s contagious. We had all 20 guys going.” Walters added that he was pleased with Windsor’s penalty kill in the win while also converting on the power play in the win.
“We went into a trap and our arrivals, and our breakouts were real good for the most part,” Walters also said. “We wanted to clog it up and make sure that we were inside the dots, protect the good ice and we did a really good job. The Greyhounds got on the board first as Travis Hayes deflected a shot by Keegan Gillen from the right point past Windsor goaltender Joey Costanzo at 15:01 of the opening period.
On the next shift, Noah Morneau took a shot from the left faceoff circle that beat Sault goaltender Nolan Lalonde glove side 24 seconds after the Greyhounds goal. The Greyhounds lost Lalonde due to injury with just under three minutes to go in the opening period after the veteran netminder was hit by Greyhounds defenceman Chase Reid with Windsor defenceman Carter Hick crashing the net. Lalonde left the game with what appeared to be a leg injury and Landon Miller entered the game in goal for the Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds appeared to take a 2-1 lead in the middle stanza when Brodie McConnell-Barker scored on a rebound in closer after a point shot by Reid was stopped by Costanzo. The goal was waved off after being challenged by the Spitfires for goalie interference. Windsor took a 2-1 lead at 16:07 of the period when Ilya Protas scored on a rebound after Miller initially stopped a shot from Liam Greentree.
The Spitfires then made it a 3-1 game as Noah Morneau beat Miller with a one-timer off a pass from Jack Nesbitt below the goalline on the power play with 1:20 to go in the period. Protas capped off the scoring with an empty net goal in the final minute of regulation time for the Spitfires. Lalonde made nine saves on 10 shots for the Greyhounds before leaving the contest with his injury.
Miller stopped 12 of 14 shots the rest of the way. Dean said Miller was “great” after entering the game. “Good goalie touches against a team that was sending a lot of pucks behind the net on us,” Dean added.
“He was fantastic. He gives us a chance to be in the hockey game. He looked very dialed in, very focused.
” Costanzo made 23 saves for the Spitfires. “Joey’s been unbelievable through the first four games, giving us a chance,” Walters said. “He’s made some big saves at big times tonight and throughout the series.
He’s a rock.” Morneau and Protas had two goals and an assist each for Windsor while Greentree assisted on a pair of goals to give the Spitfires top line eight points in the win. The trio has 30 points through four games in the series.
Asked about Lalonde’s injury following the game, Dean said he didn’t have an update on the seriousness of Lalonde’s injury following the game. Dean said Noah Tegelaar is a possibility to join the team in Windsor in the case that Lalonde can’t dress for game five. Christopher Brown and Hunter Solomon missed game four as well for the Greyhounds and Dean said their status for game five wasn’t certain.
After missing game three due to injury, Anthony Cristoforo and A.J. Spellacy remained out of the lineup for Windsor in Wednesday’s fourth game.
Previous Game Recaps Game 1 - Windsor 7, Soo 2 Game 2 - Windsor 7, Soo 1 Game 3 - Soo 3, Windsor 2 (OT).
