Gameday Preview: Greyhounds look to snap losing skid against Sting

The Soo Greyhounds look to snap a three-game losing skid on Friday night as they host the Sarnia Sting in Ontario Hockey League action.

After starting the season 16-2-0-2, the Greyhounds have struggled recently, dropping games in Erie and Kitchener to end their recent three-game road trip and then opened up a five-game homestand on Wednesday night with a 4-2 loss to the Saginaw Spirit.

Despite the losing skid, the Greyhounds remain in top spot in the OHL’s West Division with 34 points and a six-point lead over the Windsor Spitfires and Saginaw Spirit, who are tied for second. The Greyhounds also sit second in the Western Conference behind the Erie Otters.

The race atop the Western Conference has tightened up of late with seven points separating the top four teams, which also includes the Guelph Storm and London Knights. In fact, the top six teams in the Western Conference all have winning records in their past 10 games with Windsor and Erie being the hottest teams in the group with nine wins in their past 10 games.

The Sting, meanwhile, enter action on Friday having won three straight with wins over Kitchener, Saginaw and Plymouth last weekend. The Sting sit in fifth in the West Division with an 8-14-0-1 record, which leaves them ninth in the Western Conference. Despite being out of the playoff picture, the Sting are just two points behind the eighth-seeded Plymouth Whalers.

The game will feature the OHL’s top two scoring defencemen in Sarnia’s Anthony DeAngelo (32 points) Greyhounds blueliner Darnell Nurse (24).

The game also features four players that suited up in Thursday night’s Subway Super Series game in Oshawa between Team OHL and Team Russia. Sarnia’s Nikolay Goldobin and Greyhounds forward Sergey Tolchinsky both suited up for the Russians in their 5-2 win over Team OHL. Nurse and goaltender Matt Murray of the Greyhounds played for Team OHL. Murray got the start for the OHL squad.

All four players will play in the second game between the two teams on Monday night in Sudbury.

The Greyhounds and Sting have met twice this season, with both teams winning on home ice. The Greyhounds picked up an 8-3 win over the Sting in Sault Ste. Marie on Oct. 23 while the Sting were victorious in Sarnia on Nov. 1 by a 4-3 score.

Michael Bunting and Tyler Gaudet lead all Greyhound players in scoring against the Sting with four points each. Bunting has three goals in the two games.

Bryan Moore leads Sarnia with five points in two games against the Greyhounds while Nickolas Latta has three goals and four points in the two games. Goldobin also has four points against the Greyhounds this season.

The two teams meet three more times this season after Friday’s clash.

Other games around the league on Friday night include (home team listed first):

• Guelph vs. Windsor (7:00 p.m.)
• Kingston vs. Oshawa (7:00 p.m.)
• Niagara vs. Sudbury (7:00 p.m.)
• Sault Ste. Marie vs. Sarnia (7:07 p.m.)
• Saginaw vs. Plymouth (7:11 p.m.)
• Kitchener vs. Belleville (7:30 p.m.)
• London vs. Erie (7:30 p.m.)
• Mississauga vs. Peterborough (7:30 p.m.)

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TEAM LEADERS

Goals: SSM – Sergey Tolchinsky: 15; SAR – Nickolas Latta: 17
Assists: SSM – Sergey Tolchinsky: 23; SAR – Anthony DeAngelo: 24
Points: SSM – Sergey Tolchinsky: 38; SAR – Anthony DeAngelo: 32
Penalty Minutes: SSM – Darnell Nurse: 45; SAR – Bryan Moore: 43