Jack Beck perfected his signature out-of-session move and it went through the penalty shootout without a hitch.
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The Soo forward scored the winner in the third as the Soo Greyhounds cruised to a 3-2 win over the London Knights at GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday night.
Beck broke from right to left and lingered briefly in front of London goaltender Owen Wilmore before sliding to the glove side and passing the puck back to the open side.
“First of all, there was no pressure on me,” Beck said. “If I miss, we continue. This is my move and I’m really confident in it and really good at it. I don’t want to tell too many people, but this is definitely my move.”
The win kept the Hounds undefeated in three games, with wins over the Flint Firebirds and Brantford Bulldogs on the opening weekend.
OA was asked how he felt about the three-game series in which the Hounds won maximum points and perhaps some fans in the Sioux and region thanks to their skill, speed and effort.
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“I think a lot of people are sleeping on the Soo,” Beck said. “It’s a short period, but through resilience and hard work, this team never gives up.”
Overtime was exciting, with both teams skating back and forth across the ice, trading chance after chance.
John Dean called overtime a “disaster” from a manager’s point of view, but admitted it was emotional for the 3,260 fans in the stands.
Knights forward Denver Barkey came closest to winning the game when his shot hit the crossbar over Charlie Schenkel’s left shoulder.
Andrew Gibson and Gavin Hayes scored for the Hounds in regulation. Schenkel stopped 20 shots in regulation time and one in extra time.
Brady Martin missed his second straight game for the Hounds. The No. 3 overall pick in this year’s OHL Draft was injured in the home opener against the Flint Firebirds. After missing the game with general body soreness, Chris Brown returned to the lineup Wednesday night. Brown had an assist on Hayes’ tying goal in the third period.
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Max McCue and Sam O’Reilly scored for the Knights. Wilmore made his first start of the season and stopped 25 shots in regulation and none in the extra session.
Sam Dickenson leads the Knights in scoring with one goal and four assists in three games, assisting O’Reilly on a power play goal in the second period. Brody Crane didn’t go because Hunter said he had the flu. Landon Sim is out due to injury.
McCue opened the scoring at 13:30 of the first period when his backhand shot from Schenkel beat goalie Suh to the glove side. The goal was McCue’s first of the campaign.
Juan Copeland got the game started with a pass from behind the goal line that hit McCue’s skate. The forward sent the puck forward to his stick as it slid toward the goal.
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The Hounds tied the game 1-1 at 8:36 of the second period when Gibson took a shot from inside the blue line to Wilmore’s left that found the top half of the net. This goal was Gibson’s first of the season.
The Knights took a 2-1 lead with 5:37 left in the second period and scored on a power play. O’Reilly stepped in front of Schenkel and redirected Dickinson’s point shot over the Hounds goalie’s glove. The goal was O’Reilly’s second of the season.
The Hounds tied the score 2-2 at 10:23 of the third period when Hayes one-timed Brown’s cross-ice pass into the empty side of the net and Wilmore slid in from left to right. The goal was Hayes’ fourth of the season.