Greyhounds win seventh straight on home ice (Updated)

It wasn’t one of the pretty ones but the Soo Greyhounds got the job done on Saturday night.

The Greyhounds scored a 3-1 win over the Mississauga Steelheads on Saturday night at the Essar Centre, stretching their winning streak on home ice to seven games.

“Most of the game we weren’t sharp,” Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We didn’t play very well. We weren’t sharp start to finish. We were just off. At times we didn’t compete as hard as I would have liked. The positive is that in a game like that, we find a way to win.”

The Greyhounds needed a third-period goal from rookie Tyler Gaudet just moments after killing off a lengthy five-on-three.

“That goal (by Gaudet) was the backbreaker,” said Mississauga GM and coach James Boyd. “From that point on we were back on our heels.”

Keefe was pleased with the Greyhounds penalty kill in the win, specifically in killing off the five-on-three.

“A lot of times when you’re on a five-on-three, it brings that out in you,” said Keefe. “You feel the urgency of the situation and our guys responded well. I didn’t necessarily think five-on-four we were doing a great job on the kill in terms of blocking shots but the five-on-three really forced our guys to bear down. It was good to see them respond. I thought we took off and built from there.”

Darnell Nurse and David Broll also scored for the Greyhounds in the win. Nick Cousins assisted on all three goals in the win.

Greyhounds goaltender Matt Murray stopped 31 shots in the win.

Spenser Cobbold scored the lone goal for Mississauga in the loss while goaltender Spencer Martin stopped 38 shots.

“He made a number of saves early after we scored the first goal,” Boyd said of Martin. “He made a number of saves to keep it close heading into the second period.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 22-18-2-1 and remain in seventh in the OHL’s Western Conference, two points behind the Guelph Storm and three points behind the Plymouth Whalers. Guelph holds a pair of games in hand on the Greyhounds while Plymouth has a game in hand as well.

The Greyhounds sit two points ahead of the Saginaw Spirit while also holding a game in hand.

The Steelheads fall to 20-17-0-4 with the loss.

The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday night when they host the London Knights in a 7:07 p.m. start at the Essar Centre.

Photo courtesy Jim Egan

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OTHER SCORES

In Belleville, Joseph Cramarossa had the shootout winner as the Belleville Bulls beat the Windsor Spitfires 4-3. Niki Petti and Daniil Zharkov had two assists each in regulation for the Bulls. Alexander Khokhlachev scored a pair of goals for Windsor.

In Peterborough, Dominik Kahun had the shootout winner as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Peterborough Petes 4-3. Nathan Pancel led the Wolves with a pair of goals and an assist. Mathew Campagna had a goal and two assists in the win. Jonatan Tanus had a goal and an assist for the Petes.

In Plymouth, Ryan Hartman scored his third goal of the game 20 seconds into overtime to give the Plymouth Whalers a 4-3 win over the Erie Otters. Hartman also had an assist in the win. Vincent Trocheck had three assists for the Whalers. Connor Brown had a goal and two assists for the Otters.

In Sarnia, Reid Boucher scored four goals as the Sarnia Sting beat the Ottawa 67’s 5-1. Charles Sarault had three assists in the win. Dante Salituro scored the lone goal for Ottawa.

In Saginaw, Garret Ross had two goals and an assist as the Saginaw Spirit handed the London Knights their first regulation loss since Nov. 1 with a 5-2 decision. Justin Kea had a goal and an assist for the Spirit. Bo Horvat and Alex Broadhurst scored for the Knights in the loss.

In Barrie, Steven Beyers had two goals and two assists as the Barrie Colts beat the Niagara IceDogs 5-1. Tyson Fawcett had a goal and two assists for the Colts. Shayne Rover scored the lone goal for the IceDogs.

In Owen Sound, Jordan Binnington stopped all 27 shots he faced as the Owen Sound Attack blanked the Kingston Frontenacs 7-0.  Kyle Hope and Zach Nastasiuk had two goals and an assist for the Attack. Stefano Pezzetta also scored twice in the win. Kingston goaltender Mike Morrison stopped 45 shots in the loss.