Gameday Preview: Greyhounds return home to host Battalion

The Soo Greyhounds return home after a busy stretch of four games in seven days on the road.

The Greyhounds are back in action at the Essar Centre on Wednesday night to open up a three-game homestand as they host the North Bay Battalion.

The game marks the third of four meetings between the two teams this season and the final meeting at the Essar Centre.

The Greyhounds and Battalion last met on Nov. 5 in North Bay. The Greyhounds skated away with a 5-3 win. Sergey Tolchinsky had two goals and an assist in the win while Darnell Nurse added a goal and two assists. Vincent Praplan had a pair of goals for North Bay.

The first meeting of the season between the two clubs was back on Sept. 27 in Sault Ste. Marie. Jared McCann scored at 19:51 of the third period to give the Greyhounds a 2-1 win over the Battalion. McCann and Tolchinsky had a goal and an assist each in the win. Nick Paul had the lone goal for North Bay.

The Greyhounds are coming off a 4-2 loss in Sudbury on Tuesday night. The game was being made up after being postponed on Sept. 20 due to heavy fog at Sudbury Arena.

The Battalion are coming off a pair of weekend wins in St. Catharines against the Niagara IceDogs and Sunday at home against the Mississauga Steelheads. The two wins pulled North Bay back to the .500 mark at 15-15-1-0.

The Greyhounds enter Wednesday’s game with a 21-7-0-3 record and sit in top spot in the OHL’s West Division. North Bay is currently third in the Central Division, four points behind the Barrie Colts.

Other games around the OHL on Wednesday night include:

• Erie vs. Mississauga (7 p.m.)
• Plymouth vs. Saginaw (7:05 p.m.)

Puck drop on Wednesday night is set for 7:07 p.m.

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TEAM LEADERS

Goals: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 18; NB: Barclay Goodrow – 16
Assists: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 33; NB: Barclay Goodrow, Mike Amadio - 14
Points: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 51; NB: Barclay Goodrow – 30
Penalty Minutes: SSM: Darnell Nurse – 58: NB: Brenden Miller – 54