Greyhounds return from break with victory

The Soo Greyhounds showed few signs of rust in their first game back after the Christmas break.

The Greyhounds doubled up the Sarnia Sting 6-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday night in front of an announced crowd of over 4,800 at the Essar Centre.

The Greyhounds jumped out to a very early 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by David Quesnele just 16 seconds into the opening period and held a 3-0 lead though the opening 40 minutes as Michael Schumacher and Nick Cousins also tallied first-period markers.

The Sting cut into the lead thanks to goals 51 seconds apart in the second period by Criag Hottot and Reid Boucher but Brandon Alderson  and Corey Durocher proceeded to scored in the final two minutes of the frame to restore the three-goal Greyhounds lead heading into the third where the teams would trade goals – Carson Dubchak for the Greyhounds and Brett Ritchie for the Sting for the 6-3 final.

Greyhounds coach Mike Stapleton talked of the importance of the Alderson and Durocher goals late in the second period following the win.

“We knew (Sarnia) was going to come hard (in the second period),” said Stapleton. “They’re an offensive team. We got out of our rhythm there and then found a way in the last five minutes to get back to it and throw pucks to the net.

“It’s always tough when you have a goal scored against you in the last 30 or 40 seconds of a period,” Stapleton added. “It’s tough to rebound.”

Said Sting coach Jacques Beaulieu: “(The Durocher goal) was a killer. Those are always killers late in a period. If it’s 4-2 we like our chances going into the third period. With it 5-2, it’s a stretch.”

Cousins finished the night with three points on the strength of two goals and now has points in seven of his last eight games.

Colin Miller and Michael Kantor added a pair of assists each in the win.

“Michael (Kantor) has played well for us all year,” said Stapleton. He’s consistent and plays with his emotions on his sleeve and the rest of the guys feed off that.”

Greyhounds goaltender Matt Murray stopped 31 shots in the win.

“On a couple of the goals we had some defensive miscues and left him by himself,” said Stapleton. “But he made some big saves when we needed him to.”

Late in the game, the Greyhounds lost the services of defenceman Ryan Sproul after the second-year defenceman took a puck to the face. He had not gone to hospital following the game though his injury status was unknown.

Also on the injury front, forward Andrew Fritsch has surgery scheduled for his injured wrist though they will decide as the surgery gets closer whether to go through with it or continue to rehab the injury.

The Greyhounds, who improve to 18-15-2-2 with the win and pull to within three points of the Sting (19-12-1-4) in the Western Conference standings, face the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday night in a 7:05 start before hitting the road for an afternoon game in Saginaw to end off 2011 on Dec. 31.

Greyhounds forward Dylan Staples also had an early exit from Tuesday night’s game after receiving a major penalty for checking from behind after a hit on Sarnia defenceman Craig Duininck late in the third period. Staples’ status for Wednesday night is unknown.

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OTHER SCORES

At Plymouth, Alex Aleardi had three goals and two assists to pace the Plymouth Whalers to a 6-1 win over the London Knights. Jamie Devane added a goal and two assists in the win while Stefan Noesen added a pair of goals. Whalers goaltender Matt Mahalak stopped 36 shots in the win. Jared Knight had the lone goal for the Knights.

At Guelph, Jordan Mayer had two goals and an assist to pace the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors to a 6-4 win over the Guelph Storm. Jamie Wise added a pair of goals while Mika Partanen had a goal and an assist. Brett Foy also scored for the Majors while Riley Brace had two assists in the win. Jason Dickinson scored a pair of goals for Guelph. Zack Leslie added a goal and an assist while Zack Mitchell set up a pair of goals. Scott Kosmachuk also scored for the Storm.

At Owen Sound, Myles Doan’s goal at 10:21 of the third period held up as the winner as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Owen Sound Attack 2-1. Andrew Agozzino had the other Niagara goal while goaltender Chris Festarini stopped 21 shots in the win. Mike Halmo had the Owen Sound goal. Owen Sound goaltender Scott Stajcer stopped 32 shots.

At Oshawa, Daniel Altshuller stopped 31 shots as the Oshawa Generals beat the Erie Otters 4-1. Scott Laughton scored a pair of goals for the Generals while Andy Andreoff had two assists. Christian Thomas and Jimmy McDowell had the other Oshawa goals. Greg McKegg scored the lone goal for the Otters.

At Saginaw, Jake Paterson stopped 30 shots to pace the Saginaw Spirit to a 3-1 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Josh Shalla paced the Saginaw offense with a pair of goals. Jimmy Lodge had the other goal for the Spirit while John McFarland set up a pair of goals. Brady Vail had the lone Windsor goal while goaltender Jaroslav Pavelka stopped 28 shots.

At Ottawa, Remy Giftopoulos scored a pair of goals to lead the Ottawa 67’s to a 4-1 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Sean Monahan and Shane Prince added a goal and an assist each while Jake Cardwell had two assists for the 67’s. Goaltender Michael Nishi stopped 23 shots. Cody Alcock scored the lone Kingston goal while Igor Bobkov stopped 36 shots in a losing cause.

At Sudbury, Alex Racino had a goal and an assist to lead the Sudbury Wolves to a 4-2 win over the Barrie Colts. Mathew Campagna added two assists while Samuel Schutt, Michael MacDonald and Joshua Leivo also scored in the win. Gregg Sutch and Brendan Bell scored for Barrie.