Trading chances caught up with the Greyhounds on Sunday night. After erasing a deficit and taking back-to-back one-goal leads in the third, the Greyhounds couldn’t close out game 2
It turns out no lead was safe at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Sunday night.
Both the Soo Greyhounds and Kitchener Rangers had trouble holding on with the lead, the Rangers ultimately coming away with a victory in game two of their Ontario Hockey League playoff series with the Greyhounds thanks to some late offence.
After the Greyhounds erased a 3-1 lead, the Rangers came back from down a goal twice in the third period as they picked up an 8-5 win over the Greyhounds, taking a 2-0 series lead on their Western Conference opponent as the series shifts to the Sault for game three on Tuesday night.
Greyhounds forward Marco Mignosa called the loss “devastating.”
“It’s super frustrating,” the veteran forward added.
“We had two one-goal leads in the third period. It’s unbelievable we lose that game.”
Forward Jeremy Martin called it “a pretty disappointing loss.”
“We had a lot of chances, and we have to work on closing those games out,” Martin added.
Greyhounds coach John Dean said following the loss that trading chances proved costly for the team in game two.
“We don’t want to ever be in a position where we’re trading chances,” Dean said. “There’s a time when you’re down in a game where obviously you’re going to assess your risk/reward a little differently, but when you’re up by a goal twice in the third period, you really need to manage pucks, get pucks out at your blue, in at theirs, get pucks in behind their D, play toss and circles down and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Dean also agreed that his team was sloppy at times in the game, specifically in the third period while holding the lead.
“Management of the puck is critical,” Dean said. “Doing the right things in game two of round two of the playoffs is critical and we lost our way a bit there in the third period.”
“We’ve got to be mentally more mature,” Mignosa said of the third period and surrendering the leads. “You give a good team with a good power play a chance to tie it up, they score.”
Martin said the Greyhounds “weren’t as detailed” in the third period.
An advocate of his team remaining “even keel” in the playoffs, Dean said it takes on an added importance following Sunday’s setback.
“Obviously we’re disappointed in the loss, (but) there still remains a clear formula if we can get 20 guys on board to do it consistently for 60,” Dean said.
Like the Greyhounds, the Rangers are looking to have a short memory after game two.
“It’s a good win,” Rangers coach Jussi Ahokas said in an interview with RogersTV. “We did what we had to and now it’s 2-0. Have a short memory and on Tuesday we go again. We know it’s going to be a tough series. They’ll have a big push back in their home rink.”
Ahokas added that he felt his team showed “a lot of determination” in the third period.
“The guys showed what they’re made of,” Ahokas said.
Kitchener opened the scoring off a turnover by the Greyhounds defensively. Brady Martin turned the puck over to Kitchener’s Sam O’Reilly, who worked his way to the net from the left corner and eventually beat Greyhounds goaltender Carter George stick side at 16:31 of the opening period.
Kitchener took a 2-0 lead as Avry Anstis got the puck and skated down the right wing and into the Sault zone before beating George from the top of the faceoff circle at 4:39 of the second period.
The Greyhounds cut the lead back to one goal off a Rangers turnover as Brady Smith grabbed a Cameron Arquette turnover in the Sault zone and sent Mignosa in alone. The overage forward proceeded to beat Kitchener goaltender Christian Kirsch glove side on the breakaway 1:17 later.
The Rangers again made it a two-goal game thanks to a power play goal as Christian Humphreys took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that deflected off Carson Andrew and past
George at 10:28 to make it a 3-1 game.
The Greyhounds again pulled back within a goal after Mignosa took a pass from Chase Reid, skated into the slot, and beat Kirsch glove side at 12:46 to make it a 3-2 game.
The visitors proceeded to tie the game at 14:25 after Martin deflected a Jakub Winkelhofer point shot past Christian Kirsch.
With a two-man advantage carrying over into the third period, the Greyhounds would take their first lead of the series 53 seconds into the frame. While up one man after the Rangers killed off the initial penalty, Quinn McKenzie redirected a pass at the edge of the crease from Mignosa on the left side past Kirsch to make it a 4-3 game.
Edwards would tie the game for Kitchener at 3:20 with the Rangers on the power play as he took a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat George high stick side.
The Greyhounds took a one-goal lead again as Martin got his second goal of the night 5:13, intercepting a Jared Woolley pass and beating Kirsch with a shot from the right faceoff circle high stick side to make it a 5-4 game.
Kitchener tied the game at five at 8:16 as Tanner Lam took a pass in the slot from Cameron Reid and beat George high stick side.
The home side then took a 6-5 lead at 13:40 when Edwards completed a passing play started by O’Reilly. The veteran forward hit Woolley with a pass and the blueliner sent the puck down low to the left of the net to Jack Pridham, who proceeded to hit Edwards with a back-door pass for the eventual game-winner.
O’Reilly capped off the scoring with a pair of empty net goals in the final minutes for the Rangers to give him three goals on the night.
Mignosa finished the night with two goals and two assists for the Greyhounds in addition to the two-goal night from Martin.
George made 30 saves in the loss.
Pridham and Cameron Reid assisted on three goals each for Kitchener while Woolley assisted on a pair of goals.
In addition to the two-goal night from Edwards, Humphreys also had two points with a goal and an assist.
After game three on Tuesday night, game four, also in the Sault, is set for Thursday. If necessary, game five is Friday night in Kitchener.