Guelph Storm coach George Burnett wants to keep things in perspective.
It would be easy for George Burnett to rip into his team following a 5-4 overtime loss against the Flint Firebirds on home ice Tuesday night, It would be easy to bemoan an awful opening 40 minutes that saw them trail 4-0. Easy to pick apart a wonky overtime that saw some poor puck possession that led to the winning goal.
But Burnett wasn't taking the easy road.
Instead he was calm, collected and composed in his post-game remarks.
"I can be disappointed all I want, but I think we've got to keep some perspective here," Burnett said. "We're clearly a long way from being at the top of our game and we've got to understand that.
"It's going to take a little time."
COVID postponements and in-house COVID issues, a month without playing a game prior to last Sunday and not being able to practice much with a full squad are taking their toll on the execution aspect of the game.
"It would be easy to be upset at my guys but I can't. We could easily have rolled over at 4-1 and gone through the motions, but we didn't. I think that says a little something about this team. We had every opportunity to win the hockey game."
Guelph's comeback, which saw them score three times in the third period, fell just short when Flint's Riley Piercey finished off a two-on-one by tucking one past Jacob Oster in tight with 26 seconds left in overtime.
The winner, as they often do, came following a turnover in the Flint zone.
"I didn't particularly like the way we managed the puck in overtime, but we have to learn from that. All in all, with the time away, we're going to have to work our way through some battles," Burnett said.
Fatigue, turnovers and long shifts are things he wants to see them work on.
"It's been a tough ol' go and we're asking a lot. We'll keep battling through."
Guelph was terrible early on. Flint jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and led 4-0 early in the second.
Jacob Oster was not great in the Storm net while his counterpart at the other end, Luke Cavallin, was standing on his head.
Guelph would wind up outshooting the Firebirds 48-29.
Matt Poitras got Guelph on the goal in the second period, then Sasha Pastujov, Braeden Bowman and Michael Buchinger, with his first in the OHL, netted third period goals to tie things up. Pastujov would also pick up two assists.
Oster got better as the game wore on and saved his best for last, with a couple of big saves in overtime, including stopping former Storm forward Tag Bertuzzi on a breakaway prior to the game winner.
Guelph's busy week continues with home games against Sault Ste. Marie Friday and London Saturday. It concludes with a game in London on Sunday.
