Greyhounds disappointing in road loss

A tough road trip didn't get much better for the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday night.

After dropping a 4-1 decision to the Niagara IceDogs on Thursday night, the Greyhounds proceeded to drop a 6-3 decision on Saturday night in Erie against the Otters in Ontario Hockey League action.

The Otters would break a 2-2 tie with goals just over four minutes apart in the latter stages of the second period before adding a pair of third period goals to seal the win.

Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister would call the third Otters goal a key in the loss.

“The third goal wasn’t a great goal and that was one that was right after a power play and we had three or four opportunities to clear the puck,” Bannister said. “That can’t happen. Guys have to bear down and get the puck out so we can get fresh guys on the ice.”

Clearing pucks would be something that was an issue for the Greyhounds on multiple occasions in the loss.

“We had quality chances to clear the puck a few times and didn’t get it out and weren’t able to get fresh guys out and got tired and (the Otters) were able to score,” Bannister said.

Bobby MacIntyre had a pair of goals for the Greyhounds while Hayden Verbeek and Boris Katchouk picked up a pair of assists each. Colton White also scored for the Greyhounds.

Goaltender Joseph Raaymakers stopped 33 shots.

Bannister told reporters following the game that he expected to go with Brandon Halverson in goal on Sunday afternoon as the Greyhounds wrap up the road trip in Kitchener against the Rangers.

Bannister would say he was “extremely disappointed” with Saturday’s contest.

“There could have been a lot better effort than there was out there tonight,” Bannister said.

Dylan Strome led the Otters offensively with two goals and three assists while Alex DeBrincat added two goals and an assist.

Kyle Maksimovich added a goal and an assist.

Vanya Lodnia also scored for Erie.

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OTHER SCORES

In Ottawa, Jeremiah Addison had a goal and an assist as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Guelph Storm 4-1. Travis Barron, Evan deHaan and Nevin Guy also scored for the 67’s while Ben Fanjoy and Travis Konecny assisted on a pair of goals each. Luke Burghardt scored the lone Guelph goal.

In Hamilton, Stefan LeBlanc assisted on a pair of goals as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-1. Michael McLeod, Marcus Dickerson, Alexander Nylander and Luke Kutkevicius completed the Steelheads scoring. Matthew Strome scored for Hamilton.

In Sudbury, Alex Nedeljkovic made 43 saves as the Flint Firebirds blanked the Sudbury Wolves 2-0. Connor Chatham and Cullen Mercer completed the Flint scoring. Sudbury goaltender Zack Bowman made 19 saves.

In Peterborough, Eric Cornel and Greg Betzold had two goals and an assist each as the Peterborough Petes beat the Oshawa Generals 5-1. Jonathan Ang also scored for Peterborough. Mitchell Vande Sompel scored for Oshawa.

In Saginaw, Jesse Barwell had two goals and an assist to lead the Saginaw Spirit to a 5-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Kris Bennett and Markus Niemelainen added a goal and two assists each while Connor Brown had a goal and an assist for Saginaw. Marcus Soberg and Aaron Luchuk had a goal and an assist each for Windsor. Rookie goaltender Michael DiPietro stopped 36 shots. Christian Fischer also scored for Windsor.

In Barrie, Jordan Maletta and Brendan Perlini scored a pair of goals each as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Barrie Colts 5-2. Vince Dunn assisted on a pair of goals while Johnny Corneil also scored for Niagara. Roy Radke had both goals for the Colts while Cordell James picked up assists on both.

In Owen Sound, Sam Miletic scored twice as the London Knights beat the Owen Sound Attack 4-1. Mitch Marner added a goal and an assist while Matthew Tkachuk assisted on a pair of goals. Christian Dvorak also scored for the Knights. Liam Dunda scored for Owen Sound.

(Photo courtesy Soo Greyhounds)