‘Hounds jar Laredo again

By Tom Williams

Youngstown extended its streak of point-earning games to eight.

YOUNGSTOWN — With a playoff atmosphere hanging thick over the ice, the urgency that SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski preaches was in full force early in Round Two against the Southern Conference-leading Laredo Bucks.

First-period goals by Joel Irving and Mark Odut propelled the SteelHounds to a 3-1 victory over the Bucks Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre.

“Much better start,” said Kaminski referring to Friday’s game where the Bucks led 2-1 after one period before the SteelHounds rallied for a 3-2 win. “To get a goal on your second shift in, that’s a big lift for the guys. It relieves some pressure.”

Goaltender Andy Franck stopped 25 shots to earn his 23rd win and second in as many nights.

“Every game for the past three weeks has been huge for us,” said Franck after the SteelHounds extended their streak of earning at least a point to eight games. “Every point matters big time right now.”

Just 79 seconds into the game, the SteelHounds led 1-0 after Irving beat Bucks goalie John Ceci with a wraparound shot after circling the net.

“I probably haven’t scored one like that since Midget Triple A,” the 6-foot-4 Irving said. “I used my reach and it ended up sliding in.”

Irving said the play happened so fast that he didn’t have time to weigh the odds.

“It’s a mindset where you have to take the puck to the net, [we’re] taught that at this level,” Irving said of his 24th goal. “I used one of my assets which is my reach.”

The lead doubled when Brad Patterson sent the puck to an unguarded Odut skating into the left faceoff circle. Odut’s 10-foot shot eluded Ceci for a 2-0 lead.

“Our line is mostly a defensive line, but we just try to get in deep,” said Odut of his 13th goal. “Everybody was watching the puck and I think the goalie tried to chip it up the wall. Brad happened to hear me call and gave me a nice pass.”

Kaminski said that while Odut usually defends the opponents’ top line, he’s OK with him taking chances on offense.

“He has an unbelievable release,” Kaminski said. “He’s got confidence right now.”

The win gives the SteelHounds 77 points, moving them into fourth place in the Northern Conference playoff hunt (five teams will qualify for the postseason). They now lead Mississippi by three points with four games remaining.

“This is huge, [beating] the first-place team in the South,” Odut said.

Patterson was playing his second game with Youngstown since returning from England.

“I played with Brad last year and he’s fitting in with the team really well,” Odut said. “He’s a defensive player whose good in his own end.”

The Bucks began asserting themselves in the second period, with Rookie of the Year nominee Andrew Desjardins’ 22nd goal cutting the Youngstown lead in half. Matt Summers fed the puck to Desjardins in the right faceoff circle where his quick shot beat Franck.

“In the second, we lost a little steam, but overall it was a solid 60 [minute-effort],” Kaminski said. “Frankie made the saves when he had to the rest of the way.”

Urgency surfaced again early in the third period when Eric Przepiorka, from behind the net, dumped the puck into the slot where Jason Baird slipped it past Ceci to restore the SteelHounds’ two-goal lead.

“That goal gave us a little bit of a cushion, especially against such a top team,” Kaminski said.

Neither team scored with the man-advantage, with the SteelHounds killing off seven Bucks’ power-play attempts.

Franck praised the Bucks’ offense because “they cycle the puck well. In the past two games, they haven’t clicked but they are definitely a really good team.”

williams@vindy.com