Greyhounds suffer first loss

BELLEVILLE, ONT. – On Saturday night, the Soo Greyhounds found out just how much a slow start can hurt.

A pair of quick goals and a 4-0 deficit led to the Greyhounds dropping a 6-4 decision to the Belleville Bulls for the team's first loss of the season.

The Bulls scored on their first two shots of the night and chased Greyhounds starter Brandon Halverson early on. The Bulls scored four times on seven shots in the opening period.

“It was terrible,” Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They score on their first two shots. One was a breakaway and the other was a guy getting in behind us in defensive-zone coverage. It’s just clear that we weren’t sharp again right from the start. We had a few chances and a few shots early and then we got a power play and that’s what it turned into. It wasn’t good.”

For the Bulls, building an early lead was important against the Greyhounds.

“It was nice to score early,” Bulls Coach George Burnett said. “We knew it was going to be a long night regardless of the four-goal lead based on the way they play. They’re a persistent team, strong in all areas. They’re quick, patient and poised. We got through some rough patches tonight.”

“They were undefeated for a reason and we found a way tonight,” said Burnett. “Whether it was deserving or not doesn’t matter right now. It’s just nice to win.”

After the slow start, the Greyhounds seemed to recover and carried the game at times during the final 40 minutes.

“Even in the first period, I came in (to the dressing room) and I felt fine,” said Keefe. “We had a tough start, some tough breaks where we didn’t get saves but I felt fine in the game and I felt confident that we were going to come back and give ourselves a chance. We just had to keep the puck out of our net.”

“Even in the second half of the first period, I felt like we were in control and were dominant at times in the game,” Keefe added.

Jared McCann and Gabe Guertler paced the Greyhounds offensively with a goal and an assist each. Michael Bunting and Jean Dupuy also scored while Sergey Tolchinsky set up a pair of goals.

Halverson made two saves on five Bulls shots before being pulled.

“In Brandon’s case, I think he wasn’t ready and wasn’t sharp,” Keefe said. “I don’t think we gave him a chance. His first shot was a breakaway from centre ice but he didn’t recover well after that. He didn’t settle in and recover and let in the second shot. Our goaltending was a nightmare tonight but we didn’t give them a chance to settle in.”

Joseph Raaymakers came in after the third Bulls goal and stopped 22 of 25 Belleville shots the rest of the way.

“It’s important that I point out that Raaymakers had a strong third period,” Keefe said. “He didn’t get a lot of pucks but he did look like he was a lot more comfortable in the net in the third period. Both goalies were put in tough spots.”

For the Greyhounds, the game was their lone game on an Olympic-sized (200X100 feet) ice surface this season.

“We adjusted well,” Keefe said of playing on the bigger ice surface. “I don’t think it had anything to do with our poor start whatsoever. It was a big factor in how we were in control of the game in terms of how we had the puck.”

Bulls goaltender Charlie Graham stopped 46 shots in the win for the Bulls while Remi Elie led the way offensively with two goals and two assists. Jordan Subban had a goal and an assist for Belleville. Brett Gustavsen and Chad Heffernan also scored for the Bulls. Justin Lemcke, Niki Petti and Alex Yuill set up two goals each.

“I hope we learned a lesson last week when we were up 5-0 against Niagara and they came back to make it a game and we had to do everything in the world to stay out in front of them,” said Burnett. “It was a similar situation tonight but the penalties got us on our heels in the second and third periods. We got a bounce here and there. We got a timely goal a couple of times. We went up three on two or three occasions and they came back on the next shift. That’s the frustrating part that we can’t dig in and be better on that next shift after a goal for.”

The Greyhounds record drops to 8-1-0-0 with the loss while the Bulls improve to 7-2-0-0.

The Greyhounds wrap up the weekend on Sunday night in Oshawa against the Generals in a 6:05 p.m. start.

To view SooToday's live blog of Saturday's game, click here

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Kyle Pettit scored a pair of goals to lead the Erie Otters to a 6-2 win over the London Knights. Connor McDavid added a goal and two assists while Troy Donnay set up three goals for Erie.

In St. Catharine’s, Graham Knott had a goal and two assists to lead the Niagara IceDogs to a 4-2 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Mikkel Aagaard and Billy Jenkins set up two goals each for the IceDogs. Wolves goaltender Troy Timpano stopped 37 shots.

In Peterborough, Mathew Campagna and Matt Mistele scored shootout goals to lead the Plymouth Whalers to a 4-3 win over the Peterborough Petes. Mistele had a goal and an assist in regulation time for the Whalers while goaltender Zack Bowman stopped 45 shots.

In Barrie, Joseph Blandisi had two goals and an assist to lead the Barrie Colts to a 7-4 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Rasmus Andersson, Brendan Lemieux and Garrett Hooey added a goal and an assist each for the Colts.

In Owen Sound, Ken Appleby stopped all 19 shots he faced as the Oshawa Generals blanked the Owen Sound Attack 6-0. Cole Cassels had a goal and three assists while Tobias Lindberg had two goals and an assist in the win.

In Saginaw, Dylan Sadowy had the shootout winner as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Kitchener Rangers 2-1. Jake Paterson got the start in goal for the Spirit and stopped 30 shots in the win.