Spirit was showing but…
For almost two periods of their Ontario Hockey League playoff opener, the upstart Saginaw Spirit stayed with the free-wheeling Soo Greyhounds. Stride for stride. Pass for pass. Chance for chance.
But the restless hands of time — and a non call on what should have been a penalty — worked in favour of the home side and the Greyhounds were able to convert a 1-1 tie into an eventual 5-2 victory over the Spirit.
With the scored tied at a goal apiece with less than five minutes to play in the second period and Saginaw in possession of the puck, the Soo got away with what appeared to be a glaring infraction and took control of the disc. With the Spirit caught off guard, Greyhounds forward Taylor Raddysh broke in on Saginaw goalie Evan Cormier and put the puck past him to give the Soo a 2-1 lead.
With Saginaw rattled, the Soo added another goal before the end of the period and the Spirit was clearly deflated.
In the third period, the Greyhounds scored twice more to take a 5-1 lead before the Spirit closed it out with a marker of its own.
Besides two goals by Raddysh, Jack Kopacka, Mac Hollowell and Keegan Howdeshell scored for the Soo while Cole Coskey and hard-toiling Timmins, Ont. native Danny Katic replied for Saginaw.
The Greyhounds out-shot the Spirit 39-21 and were the better team as the game progressed, especially in the third period.
To be sure, the series still has the makings of being a short one as the no. 1 seed Greyhounds — who finished 49 points ahead of Saginaw during the regular season — are deeper, faster and much-more experienced than the no. 8 seed Spirit.
But Saginaw definitely displayed Spirit in Friday’s series opener and if nothing else, the youthful squad showed that it can compete with the Soo, if not in a marathon, at least in a sprint.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is slated for Sunday afternoon at 3:00 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
I watched the game, it was only a matter of time before the hounds took control of the game.
Oh well. To quote Troy Smith, who subscribes to Nick Saban sports psychology, each shift has a history and life of it’s own.
Good things happen out there, bad things happen out there, play through it.
As Ron said, the end result was never in doubt.
A non call is what helped the hounds ? Maybe but there were non-calls throughout that game. I realize you let the other media outlets pump the hounds tires while you pump Flints and Saginaws and that’s fine . I think it’s great how you promote the NOJHL and all the local kids in high levels of hockey… I commend you on that … and yes the spirit did and will play the hounds tough… but to say a non call was a factor last night …there were plenty more factors why Saginaw lost …. just my opinion sir
As I have my opinion too, sir. You have yours, I have mine. And that is cool.