SAULT STE. MARIE - Third period leads have been a nemesis for the Soo Greyhounds this season.
On Tuesday night, the Greyhounds found a way to correct the trend, even in a situation where their opponent made things close heading into the final period.
After the North Bay Battalion scored a pair of goals in the second period to cut what was a four-goal lead to two, the Greyhounds held on in the final 20 minutes for a 6-3 Ontario Hockey League victory Tuesday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
“Our D really stepped up in a big way,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said of the third period. “They played a very predictable brand. Our exits were really nice, very predictable. I loved the way they played in the neutral zone, clogged it up and when they got the puck, they made really simple plays so we could get pucks in behind their D.”
Dean added that he felt the Greyhounds forward in the offensive zone in the third period as well.
“We started to use behind the net more as opposed to using the top third of the zone, which we were doing in the third period,” Dean said.
After the second period, Dean said the discussion in the dressing room was that they weren’t happy with the first 40 minutes.
“We weren’t happy with the sloppiness of the 40 minutes, but there was an opportunity for us to have a good 20 and feel good about our game,” Dean said. “The room was quiet. They knew that we weren’t playing well. It presented us with an opportunity to salvage 20 minutes here and feel good about the way we played.”
Dean said the team discussed the situation on Monday after Sunday’s loss to Owen Sound and focused on approaching a situation they feel was going to present itself again going forward.
“Brandon Taylor told the guys that we’re going to get another opportunity, the way we’re playing, we feel like we’re going to get a lot of opportunities to protect leads in the third period,” Dean said. “Sure enough it presented itself again.”
North Bay coach Ryan Oulahen said he was proud of his team for “making a game of it.”
“We get down 5-1 and you’re not sure the direction this is going to go,” Oulahen said. “If we were able to get one in the third, we might have made a little bit of a comeback.”
Oulahen added that the Greyhounds “did a good job staying above us and not letting us generate anything.”
Asked about goaltending in the setback, Oulahen said it didn’t come down to just goaltending.
“I’m a big believer that it’s a team effort,” Oulahen said.
“When you leave guys open at the side of the net, back-door plays, the shorthanded goals, they can’t happen,” Oulahen said.
The Greyhounds got on the board first as Spencer Evans took a shot from the high slot that handcuffed North Bay goaltender Jack Lisson at 8:20 of the opening period.
North Bay tied the game at one at 14:13 as Shamar Moses got into open ice and got the puck from Parker Vaughan before beating Greyhounds goaltender Landon Miller with a backhand high stick side on a deke.
The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission as Christopher Brown beat a North Bay player to the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the Battalion zone and beat Lisson from the high slot high glove side 2:11 later.
In the opening minute of the second period, with the Greyhounds shorthanded, Brady Martin skated into the North Bay zone on a 2-on-1 with Marco Mignosa and beat Lisson with a shot from the right circle 30 seconds into the period.
The home side made it a 4-1 game at 3:55 as Mignosa beat Lisson from the bottom of the left circle on a one-timer off a pass from Martin.
The Greyhounds added another shorthanded goal as Mignosa took a pass alone in the slot from Martin on the left wing and proceeded to beat Lisson high glove side in tight at 6:42 to make it a 5-1 game.
North Bay cut into the lead at 14:11 when Zach Wilson stepped into the high slot and beat Miller glove side to make it a 5-2 game.
North Bay made it a two-goal game thanks to a power play goal by Ethan Procyszyn. The veteran forward tipped in a shot from the top of the left circle by Jacob Therrien past Miller 1:42 later.
The Greyhounds capped off the scoring with 1:08 to go as Martin scored into an empty net to make the final 6-3.
Martin finished the night factoring in on five of the six Sault goals in the game, scoring twice and assisting on three other goals for the Greyhounds.
Mignosa added three points in the game with two goals and an assist.
Miller stopped 24 shots.
Moses had a goal and an assist for the Battalion.
Lisson made 23 saves.
The Greyhounds return to action on Wednesday night at home against the Sudbury Wolves before hosting the Brampton Steelheads on Friday night.
The Greyhounds improve to 23-32-2-1 on the season with Tuesday’s win.
Fighting for a playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference, the Greyhounds move into a tie for seventh with the Sarnia Sting thanks to the victory. The teams are two points ahead of the Owen Sound Attack heading into play on Wednesday though the Sting have two games in hand on the Sault and the Attack have one.
The Guelph Storm sit five points back of the Greyhounds following a loss on Tuesday night on the road against the Kitchener Rangers.
The Sting, Attack, and Storm are also slated to play Wednesday night as well with Guelph hosting the Barrie Colts while the Attack face the Niagara IceDogs at home and the Sting are on the road in Flint to take on the Firebirds.
North Bay sits in eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, four points ahead of the Ottawa 67’s, a team they’re scheduled to face on Friday night in Ottawa. Before that, the Battalion will host the Brampton Bulldogs on Thursday night.
North Bay will take a 23-29-4-0 record into that game.