Overtime heroics lift Greyhounds

FLINT, MI – It would be hard to blame the Soo Greyhounds if they were a little more excited Saturday night than they would be after a typical Ontario Hockey League victory.

After finding themselves down 3-0 before the game was 11 minutes old, the Greyhounds rallied for a 4-3 overtime win over the Flint Firebirds at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint.

It was a game that Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister would call the best of the season.

“The outcome was deserved,” Bannister said. “We were relentless. It was a character win. Playing five-on-five, we were dominant. We didn’t spend any time in our zone.”

The Greyhounds would finish the night with a 45-12 edge in shots, which included giving up just a single shot in the second period and marked the fewest shots the Greyhounds have surrendered this season.

Blake Speers was the hero, depositing a rebound off a Colton White shot on a two-man advantage 3:50 into the overtime period to complete the comeback win.

Speers also picked up a pair of assists for the Greyhounds while Gabe Guertler had two goals and an assist. Tim Gettinger also scored.

Greyhounds goaltender Brandon Halverson made nine saves.

Ryan Moore had a goal and an assist for the Firebirds while Connor Chatham and Will Bitten added two assists each.

Jacob Collins and Vili Saarijarvi had the other goals for Flint.

Flint goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 41 shots.

The Greyhounds finished the night with three power play goals on eight opportunities.

“It was certainly a confidence-booster,” Bannister said of the power play.

The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon in Windsor against the Spitfires in a 2 p.m. start.

Game Notes: The win marked the first time this season that the Greyhounds won when trailing after two periods. Prior to Saturday, the team was winless in eight games when trailing through 40 minutes.

Rookie forward Liam Hawel picked up his first OHL point with an assist on Gettinger’s goal.

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Devin Williams made 23 saves as the Erie Otters beat the London Knights 3-1. Alex DeBrincat, Erik Cernak and Taylor Raddysh scored for the Otters while Dylan Strome picked up a pair of assists. Christian Dvorak scored for the Knights while goaltender Tyler Parsons stopped 30 shots.

In Hamilton, Leo Lazarev made 25 saves as the Ottawa 67’s blanked the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-0. Austen Keating scored a pair of goals for Ottawa. Travis Barron, Sam Studnicka, Trent Mallette and Dante Salituro also scored. Hamilton goaltender Connor Hicks made 26 saves.

In St. Catharines, Aaron Haydon’s goal at 13:32 of the third period was the game-winner as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Oshawa Generals 4-2. Anthony DiFruscia, Johnny Corneil and Josh Ho-Sang also scored for the IceDogs. Jeremy Brodeur made 30 saves while Domenic Commisso and Michael Dal Colle completed the Oshawa scoring.

In Peterborough, Greg Betzold and Adam Timleck scored a pair of goals each as the Peterborough Petes beat the Sudbury Wolves 8-4. Kyle Jenkins had a goal and three assists while Hunter Garlent had a goal and two assists. Jonathan Ang assisted on three goals for the Petes. Dominik Masin and Daniel Nikandrov also scored for Peterborough.

In Sarnia, Justin Fazio made 24 saves as the Sarnia Sting beat the Guelph Storm 7-0. Pavel Zacha and Jordan Kyrou had a pair of goals each for Sarnia. Patrick White, Davis Brown and Connor Schlichting also scored. Bradley Van Schubert stopped 35 shots.

In Barrie, Andrew Mangiapane scored three times as the Barrie Colts beat the Saginaw Spirit 5-1. Colts netminder Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 33 shots. Kevin Labac assisted on three goals while ben Hawerchuk and Zachary Magwood also scored. Connor Brown had the lone goal for Saginaw.

In Owen Sound, Ryan MacInnis scored at 3:26 of overtime to help the Kitchener Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Adam Mascherin also scored for the Rangers while goaltender Luke Richardson stopped 30 shots. Jonah Gadjovich scored the lone goal for Owen Sound while goaltender Michael McNiven stopped 27 shots.