Greyhounds struggle in loss to 67's (Updated)

A pair of power play goals a minute apart in the second period helped sink the Soo Greyhounds on Friday night.

Jake Cardwell and Remy Giftopoulos of the Ottawa 67’s scored power play goals 59 seconds apart early in the second period en route to a 6-1 Ottawa victory over the Greyhounds in front of an announced crowd of 3,934 at the Essar Centre.

In a game that was tied at one through 20 minutes of play, the goals swung the game’s momentum in favour of the 67’s and the Greyhounds struggled to get back into the game.

“We were right in the game and then we gave up those two quick power play goals and the momentum shifted in their favour and we couldn’t get it back,” said Greyhounds coach Mike Stapleton. “If we’re going to be successful, we need all 20 guys and I’m not sure we had all 20 guys going tonight.”

67’s coach Chris Bryne noted that, despite a tough start to the season, the Ottawa power play has excelled.

“Anytime you get up 3-1 on the road (it’s significant),” said Byrne. “They were big goals. We haven’t had a great record to start the year but it there’s one area of our game that’s been pretty good, it’s been our power play.”

Ryan Van Stralen also scored in the second period for the 67’s while Tyler Graovac scored a pair of third-period goals to seal the Ottawa win. Steven Janes had the other Ottawa goal and also set up a pair of goals for the 67’s. Dante Salituro and Sean Monahan had a pair of assists each for the 67’s, who improved to 5-8-0-2 in the win.

“It was nice (to spread the offense out),” said Byrne. “It was one of those games where, especially early in the game, everybody played because there wasn’t too many penalties. It’s nice when you can go on the road and put your fourth line out on the ice. It’s a night where everybody played.”

Ottawa goaltender Keegan Wilson stopped 24 shots.

Greyhounds goaltender Matt Murray got the start and stopped 15 shots before being pulled following the fourth Ottawa goal.

“That’s going to happen in 68 games,” said Stapleton. “We’re not placing (the loss) on Matt.”

Justin Nichols came in and stopped 16 shots the rest of the way. Matt Fuller had the lone goal for the Greyhounds (9-8-0-0).

The Greyhounds also lost the services of overage defenceman Chris Buonomo in the loss after the veteran defenceman was hit with a major penalty and game misconduct for checking to the head. Buonomo faces the possibility of being suspended for the hit.

“I’d imagine he’s not going to play tomorrow,” said Stapleton.

The Greyhounds return to action on Saturday night when they host the Barrie Colts in a 7:07 p.m. start.

Photo courtesy Jim Egan

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Daniel Catenacci and Gemel Smith had two goals and two assists each to lead the Owen Sound Attack to a 6-3 win over the Erie Otters. Connor Brown had two goals for Erie in the loss.

In Guelph, Garret Sparks stopped 44 shots as the Guelph Storm beat the Oshawa Generals 4-1. Matt Finn had a goal and an assist in the win for the Storm while Boone Jenner had the lone goal for the Generals.

In Kingston, Sam Bennett had two goals and an assist as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Brampton Battalion 6-3. Spencer Watson added two goals while Roland McKeown set up three goals for the Frontenacs. Brendan Childerley, Nick Paul and Brandon Robinson scored for Brampton in the loss.

In Sarnia, Garrett Meurs scored at 11:30 of the third period to give the Plymouth Whalers a 3-2 win over the Sarnia Sting. Matt Mahalak stopped 32 shots in the win. Justice Dundas and Nickolas Latta scored for Sarnia.

In Kitchener, Brent Pedersen scored a pair of goals to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 5-1 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Josh Sterk added three assists for the Rangers. Jordan DeKort stopped 43 shots for the Spitfires.

In London, Alex Broadhurst scored 54 seconds into overtime to give the London Knights a 4-3 win over the Belleville Bulls. Broadhurst and Max Domi had a goal and an assist each for the Knights in the win. Daniil Zharkov scored a pair of goals for the Bulls in the loss.

In Mississauga, Spencer Martin stopped 30 shots as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Peterborough Petes 4-1. Stuart Percy and Trevor Carrick had a goal and an assist each in the win. Derek Mathers had the lone goal for the Petes.

In Sudbury, Nicholas Baptiste, Charlie Dodero and Brody Silk had a goal and an assist each to lead the Sudbury Wolves to a 6-4 win over the Barrie Colts. Joshua Leivo and Mathew Campagna added two assists each in the win. Tyson Fawcett had a goal and an assist for the Colts.