Greyhounds Nurse'd back to winning ways (6 photos)

The Soo Greyhounds got a boost on Wednesday night as Captain Darnell Nurse returned to the lineup.

Nurse saw his first action of the season with the Greyhounds Wednesday in a 7-2 win over the Sudbury Wolves at the Essar Centre to begin a three-game homestand.

The four-year veteran picked up a pair of assists as the Greyhounds improved to 9-2-0-0 with the win.

“It went pretty well,” said Nurse of his season opener. “Obviously there’s always room for improvement but for a first game it felt pretty good.”

Familiarity played a role in Nurse making his way back into the lineup in the game..

“He’s a great player. He’s familiar with what we’re doing. We’ve changed a few things and that’s going to take him some time to get a grasp of that,” said Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe. “Today we just wanted to really let him go and left him get comfortable and get his feet back on the ground.”

Keefe also said he was pleased with the way the Greyhounds played around Nurse making his return to the lineup.

“I think they had fun watching him and playing with him tonight,” Keefe said. “Every time he got the puck, the bench rose up in anticipation waiting to see what was going to happen. That can be a negative for a team as well because they can stand around watching him play, especially for the guys who haven’t played with him before but that will settle over time.”

Wednesday’s win saw the Greyhounds struggle out of the gate and through 20 minutes the game was tied at two before the locals exploded offensively with five goals in the middle frame.

“In many ways it was a carbon copy of the last game we played in here against Sudbury,” Keefe said. “Our first period, we’re getting a feel for the game and they’re working hard and beating us to pucks. It’s not a great period for us but we felt confident that we could get our game in order and we did that in the second period. We played the way we want to for the most part.”

“I expected us to have a poor first period to be honest,” said Keefe. “I actually expected us to have a poor game just coming off the road trip, guys have been sick and haven’t properly recovered in terms of our sleep from driving through the night to get home (Sunday).”

Time Gettinger and Sergey Tolchinsky each scored twice in the middle frame while Gabe Guertler scored with 0.8 seconds left in the period.

“We were very good,” Keefe said of the second period. “We were very much in control of things. We got great goals and just applied a lot of pressure. Once we start generating that sort of momentum, we’re a tough team to play against.”

Jared McCann and Gustav Bouramman also scored for the Greyhounds in Wednesday’s win. Goaltender Joseph Raaymakers stopped 29 shots in the win.

Pavel Jenys and Danny Desrochers scored for the Wolves in the loss. Troy Timpano got the start and stopped 23 of 30 shots in 40 minutes of action. Backup Samuel Tanguay came in for the third period and stopped all 10 shots he faced.

“It’s a 60-minute game and we only played 20 today,” said Wolves Coach Paul Fixter, who had little to say to the media following the game. “(The Greyhounds) shut it down in the third and that’s why it was a little bit closer in the third.”

The loss drops the Wolves record to 1-10-0-0, which is the worst record in the OHL.

“We’re very frustrated,” said Fixter. “Losing sucks and that’s frustrating.”

For Nurse, the return to the Greyhounds comes after getting into a pair of games with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to start the season.

“I’m excited to get back,” Nurse said of returning to the Greyhounds. “I’m excited to get back with the guys and get back to work.”

The Greyhounds return to action on Friday night when they host the Erie Otters at the Essar Centre

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists to lead the Erie Otters to an 8-4 victory over the Niagara IceDogs. Alex DeBrincat chipped in with a pit of goals and an assist for the Otters while Kurtis MacDermid also scored twice. Nick Betz set up three goals for Erie. Jordan Maletta scored twice for Niagara.

In Owen Sound, Ethan Szypula had two goals and an assist as the Owen Sound Attack beat the Barrie Colts 6-1. Chris Bigras also had a pair of goals for the Attack. Kyle Platzer and Zachary Nastasiuk set up a pair of goals each for Owen Sound. Brendan Lemieux had the lone goal for Barrie in the loss.

(PHOTO: Soo Greyhounds forward Sergey Tolchinsky and Sudbury Wolves defenceman Austin Clapham fight for the puck during a game at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie on October 22, 2014. Tolchinsky scored 2 goals and an assist in the 7-2 win over the Wolves. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)

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