Greyhounds pick up win over division rival (8 Photos)

The first game against a divisional opponent is out of the way for the Soo Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds picked up a 3-2 win over the Plymouth Whalers on Friday night at the Essar Centre.

The Greyhounds held a territorial and shot advantage through two periods and held on for the win in the third period as the Whalers attempted to erase a one-goal Greyhounds lead.

“We were in control of the game for the most part,” said Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe. “They were able to hang around. We didn’t get a lot of high-end scoring chances and that’s because they protect the middle of the ice really well. Even when we had a lot of possession, they were really holding the middle of the rink. We were happy with how we kept the puck and really didn’t give them a lot of opportunity to get anything.”

Keefe added that not increasing the lead despite the territorial and puck possession advantage was disappointing.

“Obviously the negative was that we weren’t able to extend the score,” said Keefe. “Clearly that was by design for them (Plymouth). They’re protecting the middle and trying to hang around in the game.”

“There was a point where it seemed like we were having too much puck time,” added Keefe. “We were struggling to penetrate and trying to do too much with the puck. We had great puck time but it was preventing us from really challenging their net which is what they want. They want to keep us on the outside.”

Tyler Gaudet had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds in the win while Jorgen Karterud and newly-acquired Jean Dupuy also scored. Goaltender Matt Murray stopped 16 shots.

“We played well,” said Keefe. “It was a difficult game where we controlled the puck for a whole period and you could tell on our bench that we felt comfortable and we were clearly in control. It was tough to get them in that right mindset that we were in a tight game.”

Overage forward Zach Lorentz had a goal and an assist for the Whalers in the loss while Alex Peters also scored.

“We played pretty good in the third period,” said Whalers coach Mike Vellucci. “Our power play was good except for the five-on-three. Our goalie (Alex Nedeljkovic) let in two soft goals there and that kills you. We didn’t give them a ton of chances either.”

“We could have folded the tent when we were down 3-1 but we came back and scored a nice power play goal and we out-chanced them 6-1 in the third period,” Vellucci added.

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 5-1-0-1 while the Whalers record drops to 3-6-0-0.

The Greyhounds are back in action on Saturday night when they host the Windsor Spitfires. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. at the Essar Centre.

Photos by Kenneth Armstrong