Facing elimination, Greyhounds' 'confidence level doesn't change'

They may be trailing and facing elimination, but Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean still has an immense amount of confidence in his team.

“I will bet on this team any day of the week with our backs against the wall,” Dean said Friday night.

The team will head into game six of their second round Ontario Hockey League playoff series facing elimination following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Saginaw Spirit Friday at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

Sault native Calem Mangone scored the winner just under eight minutes into the extra frame to give the Spirit the victory and a 3-2 series lead as the teams travel north for game six Sunday night in the Sault.

Dean has little doubt his team will be ready for the game with a loss Sunday meaning the end of their season.

“The cup is overflowing,” Dean said when asked about his confidence in his team heading into Sunday’s game.

“People can doubt us, that’s their choice,” said overage forward Jack Beck.

“Our confidence level doesn’t change.”

Greyhounds captain Bryce McConnell-Barker added that “we still have full belief in this group.”

After a tough start to the game in which goaltender Charlie Schenkel made some key saves to keep the game scoreless, Dean said there was a lot to like after that point.

The Greyhounds bench boss added that he felt the Greyhounds deserved to win the game, but “we don’t get the opportunity to do that without Charlie in the first 10 minutes.”

“He was fantastic,” Dean added in reference to Schenkel.

For the Greyhounds overage forward Jack Beck returned to the lineup Friday, playing his first game since getting injured in the first game of the playoffs against Guelph.

Asked about Beck’s play in his return to the lineup, Dean called the veteran forward “fabulous.”

“He scores a big goal for us. He calms down our power play a bit too,” Dean said. “I was really impressed with how much legs he had, his conditioning, and how much he generated. Just little plays that probably even go unnoticed on TV, little slip passes that he makes to give us opportunities to score off the rush.”

“I felt great,” Beck said of his return.

The Greyhounds got on the board first thanks to a power play goal in the opening period.

Kirill Kudryavtsev had the puck in the left circle with Gavin Hayes and McConnell-Barker near the goal. Kudryavtsev sent the puck into traffic and McConnell-Barker potted the loose puck past Saginaw starter Nolan Lalonde to make it a 1-0 game at 11:47.

The Spirit tied the game early in the second period as Matyas Sapovaliv skated into the left faceoff circle and beat Greyhounds netminder Charlie Schenkel with a shot high stick side two minutes into the period.

Beck made an impact in his return to the Greyhounds lineup from injury, giving the Greyhounds a 2-1 lead with 2:11 to go in the middle stanza. Owen Allard took a breakaway pass from Kudryavtsev and was stopped initially by Lalonde with the rebound popping up high in the air. Beck followed the play up and batted in the rebound out of the air to give the Sault the lead.

Hunter Haight tied the game for the Spirit with a power play marker in the third period.

The veteran forward skated the puck in the Greyhounds zone before moving into the high slot and beating Schenkel glove side through some traffic at 7:54.

The Greyhounds had an opportunity to retake the lead just under six minutes later when Owen Allard was pulled down on a breakaway by Owen Beck and was given a penalty shot that was ultimately denied by a glove save by Lalonde on a nice move by Allard.

Dean said the Greyhounds thought the play should have initially been called a goal after Allard and Beck slid into the crease with Lalonde and the puck. The puck, under Lalonde, slide near the goalline, but a review of the play left the Greyhounds with the stopped penalty shot instead.

Dean said he felt the stop by Lalonde didn’t take any wind out of the Greyhounds sails though and that the team continued to push offensively following the play.

“It’s a huge benefit if he does (score on the penalty shot),’ Dean said. “But I didn’t feel any depletion in our energy at all. We still played a fantastic game the rest of the way.”

Ahead of the overtime winner, both teams had chances throughout the extra frame before Mangone hopped in a rebound in tight and beat Schenkel. The Sault product had the first chance on the sequence but shot the puck wide. Sapovaliv then got the puck to Joey Willis in the slot, who was stopped by Schenkel. It was then that Mangone potted the rebound from the edge of the crease to give the Spirit the win.

Kudryavtsev assisted on both goals offensively for the Greyhounds in the loss while Schenkel made 37 saves.

Mangone and Sapovaliv had a goal and an assist each for the Spirit.

Lalonde stopped 32 shots in the victory.

With the Spirit holding a 3-2 series lead heading into game six on Sunday with a chance to close the series out in Sault Ste. Marie, a Greyhounds win would force a seventh and deciding game on Tuesday night in Saginaw.

The Greyhounds and Spirit are the lone second round series going in the OHL following action on Thursday night.

The other three series finished in sweeps after three games Thursday, including the London Knights beating the Kitchener Rangers 4-3 in Kitchener to advance to the Western Conference final where they will face the winner of the Greyhounds/Spirit series.

In the Eastern Conference, the Oshawa Generals beat the Ottawa 67’s 4-1 while the North Bay Battalion beat the Sudbury Wolves on Thursday night to set the Eastern Conference final.

The Generals and Battalion will begin their series on April 26 in Oshawa.