Greyhounds hold on to beat east division leader

They called it likely the best game they played on home ice this season.

The Soo Greyhounds opened a short two-game homestand on Friday night with a narrow 2-1 victory over the East Division-leading Kingston Frontenacs at the Essar Centre in Ontario Hockey League action.

Makar Tokarev’s goal at 2:39 of the third period, which came 34 seconds after Kingston had tied the contest, was the game-winner as the Greyhounds secured at least a point for the third consecutive game.

The team has three wins and an overtime loss in its last five outings in crawling back to .500 with a 9-9-3-0 record after Friday’s win.

“We’ve talked about putting a complete game together and it started last weekend and we saw it tonight,” Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said. “Obviously (Kingston) is a good hockey club and we matched them. We had a lot of opportunities offensively and probably created a bit more than they did.

“They’re a big, strong, heavy team and they’ve got a heavy forecheck,” Bannister added. “Our defencemen did a great job of moving the puck out of our zone.”

Bannister would also say that “the confidence and the will to play the right way is starting. Our leadership group is starting to take hold in the room. The kids are understanding what we need to do to win and be competitive.”

Confidence, which was fragile at times ahead of the Greyhounds latest stretch, is returning and players are making themselves more accountable.

“There’s more accountability in the room and with more confidence comes more accountability,” Bannister said. “(The confidence) had changed the dynamics of our room and our play too. We’re kind of getting our swagger back.”

Zach Senyshyn had the other goal for the Greyhounds while veteran goaltender Brandon Halverson made 25 saves.

“He was really good,” Bannister said of Halverson. “He was confident with the puck. He seemed engaged in the game. His confidence is coming back in himself and the guys that are playing in front of him.”

Jared Steege had the lone goal for the Frontenacs while goaltender Lucas Peressini stopped 28 shots.

“Both teams played hard and it could have gone either way,” said Kingston Coach Paul McFarland. “We scored a big goal at the start of the third period. The first shift after that we didn’t have a good shift and that cost us the third point.”

“We’ve got to do a better job of responding on the next shift but our guys played hard,” McFarland also said. “A lot of guys are tired in that room after playing back-to-back but they left it all out on the ice.”

Steege was the only member of the Frontenacs top two lines to get on the scoresheet.

“We did a great job,” Bannister said of managing the likes of Lawson Crouse and Spencer Watson in the game. “Those are some big bodies. Lawson Crouse is a year away from being in the NHL and quite possibly could be in the NHL now. He’s a big, heavy forward. All those guys are big, heavy guys. Credit to our guys.

“We used our speed to our advantage where we could get back. We got on loose pucks and we exited our zone quickly,” Bannister added. “We didn’t give them a lot of chances to get into a forecheck. When they did, they hemmed us in but we did a good job getting pucks back quick and exiting our zone.”

The homestand wraps up for the Greyhounds on Saturday night. The Greyhounds face the Peterborough Petes in the lone meeting between the two clubs on Essar Centre ice. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m.

****
OTHER SCORES

In Sudbury, Dominik Masin’s goal four minutes into overtime gave the Peterborough Petes a 6-5 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Masin and Eric Cornel finished the night with a goal and two assists each while Greg Betzold added two goals and an assist for the Petes. Hunter Garlent assisted on three Peterborough goals. Kyle Jenkins and Matt Spencer also scored for Peterborough. Dmitry Sokolov had three goals and an assist for Sudbury while Matt Schmalz and Kyle Capobianco also scored.

In Sarnia, Jeff King’s power play goal at 4:07 of the second period was the game-winner as the Sarnia Sting beat the Owen Sound Attack 1-0. Justin Fazio made 25 saves for the shutout while Owen Sound netminder Michael McNiven stopped 30 shots.

In Guelph, Ryan Moore scored a pair of goals as the Flint Firebirds beat the Guelph Storm 5-2. Connor Chatham assisted on three goals for Flint while Mathieu Henderson added a goal and an assist. Zack Pittman and Zach Grzelewski also scored for Flint. Will Bitten assisted on two goals. Luke Burghardt and Nick Deakin-Poot scored for Guelph.

In London, Ryan MacInnis had a pair of goals while Luke Opilka stopped 32 shots as the Kitchener Rangers beat the London Knights 4-2. Dmitrii Sergeev assisted on three goals while Darby Llewellyn added a goal and an assist. Jeremy Bracco also had a two-point night with a pair of assists for Kitchener. Adam Mascherin had the other Rangers goal. Aaron Berisha and Mitchell Marner scored for London.

In Mississauga, Jack Flinn made 31 saves as the Mississauga Steelheads blanked the North Bay Battalion 7-0. Alexander Nylander had three goals and an assist to pace Mississauga offensively while Ryan McLeod and Owen Tippett added a pair of goals each. Nathan Bastien and Michael McLeod assisted on three goals each while Damian Bourne and Luke Kutkevicius added two assists each. Jake Kment made 24 saves for North Bay.

In Oshawa, Kyle MacLean’s goal at 9:17 of the third period was the winning goal as the Oshawa Generals beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3. Joe Manchurek scored twice for Oshawa while Mitchell Vande Sompel assisted on a pair of goals. Alexandre Renaud also scored for Oshawa. Jesse Saban, Matthew Strome and Mason Marchment scored for Hamilton.