Two third period goals lifts Greyhounds to win (7 photos)

Things were slightly off to start the night but the Soo Greyhounds rebounded for the final 40 minutes to end their homestand on a high.

The Greyhounds picked up a 4-2 win over the Peterborough Petes on Saturday night at the Essar Centre in Ontario Hockey League action.

Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe was pleased with the fact the team was able to clean up some issues with passing being slightly off early in the game.

“Early in the game we had some issues but cleaned that up as we got going, which is positive,” Keefe said. “We’re looking for progress and we saw some of that tonight but certainly we haven’t been as sharp in that area.”

“When we’re playing well and we’re really sharp we snap those pucks around pretty good,” Keefe also said. “For one reason or another, it hasn’t been moving very well for us. As the game wore on, it was much better and once we did that, the game was in our control in terms of possession.”

Bryan Moore scored the game winning goal early in the third period while Jared McCann sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final minute. Gabe Guertler and Michael Bunting also scored for the Greyhounds in the win. Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers stopped 29 shots.

“I wasn’t happy with our first period in terms of some of the turnovers and our sloppiness,” said Keefe. “I was pretty happy with the game in general. When you get 50 shots, score two power play goals; we don’t take any penalties to give them any opportunities so our discipline was a real strength of ours throughout the game. There was a lot of good things that we did. We’re overall pretty happy with the game.”

Peterborough goaltender Scott Smith stopped 45 shots in the loss.

“He’s a young guy trying to get his feet wet in the league,” Petes Coach Jody Hull said. “He played extremely well all things considered, with the amount of power plays the Sault had.”

Keefe also credited Smith for his play in the game.

“He was really good,” Keefe said of Smith. “I also thought our execution was very poor. Pucks were bouncing on us and we were losing the handle on it. We would hold onto it a little too long so I think we helped his cause. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him and he was strong and kept the game close but that was in conjunction with us not being sharp offensively.”

Hunter Garlent and Cameron Lizotte scored for the Petes, who drop to 2-6-1-2 with the loss.

“To a man in the room, I don’t think there wasn’t one guy that I could say didn’t give it after three-in-three and the travel we had,” Hull said.

“Our penalty killing did well even though they scored the two (power play) goals,” Hull also said. “They did a pretty admirable job. It’s tough because that eats up some ice time for your better players. Unfortunately that’s what happened for us a few times tonight. Our better players didn’t get on the ice as much as we needed and (the Greyhounds better players) did because of the power plays.”

Keefe said the Petes are better than their record shows

“We expected them to be a much more competitive team than what their record shows,” Keefe said of the Petes. “That’s a good club. They’ve got lots of depth. We looked at their forward lines and thought there would be some tough matchups for us. They’re a very experienced team so we expected a challenge. For whatever reason, they just haven’t been able to get on the right side of games.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 10-3-0-0.

The Greyhounds now prepare for a two game road trip that begins on Oct. 31 in London.

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AROUND THE LEAGUE

In other games around the OHL on Saturday night:

In London, Mitchell Marner had a goal and two assists to lead the London Knights to a 5-1 win over the Belleville Bulls. Goaltender Michael Giugovaz made 28 saves for the Knights in the win. Christian Dvorak and Max Domi chipped in with a goal and an assist each while Michael McCarron added two assists for the Knights. Jordan Subban had the lone goal for Belleville.

In Sudbury, Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome had a goal and three assists each as the Erie Otters beat the Sudbury Wolves 8-1. Mason Marchment added a pair of goals for the Otters in the win. The Wolves have now lost 12-straight games since opening the regular season with a win.

In Plymouth, Gustaf Franzen's shorthanded goal late in the third period was the game-winner as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Plymouth Whalers 5-3. Brent Pederson had a goal and an assist for the Rangers in the win while Frank Hora added a pair of assists. Sonny Milano had a goal and two assists for Plymouth in the loss.

In Sarnia, Erik Bradford had two goals and two assists to lead the Ottawa 67's to a 6-1 win over the Sarnia Sting. Ottawa goaltender Leo Lazarev stopped 38 shots. Dante Salituro had a goal and an assist for Ottawa while Jacob Middleton also had a two-point night with a pair of assists. Nikita Korostelev had the lone goal for Sarnia.

In Windsor, Slater Doggett scored at 2:06 of overtime to lift the Windsor Spitfires to a 5-4 win against the Mississauga Steelheads. Doggett had a pair of goals in the win while Markus Soberg had a goal and an assist for the Spitfires. Jalen Chatfield set up two goals for Windsor. Mississauga goaltender Spencer Martin stopped 37 shots while Bryson Cianfrone had a goal and three assists offensively. Sam Babintsev chipped in with a pair of goals for the Steelheads.

In Barrie, David Sherman’s goal at 8:08 of the third period was the game winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Barrie Colts 4-3. Ray Huether, Zach Bratina and Nick Paul also scored for North Bay. C.J. Garcia, Joseph Blandisi and Cordell James scored for Barrie in the loss.

In Owen Sound, Petrus Palmu, Kyle Platzer and Ethan Szypula scored shootout goals to lift the Owen Sound Attack to a 3-2 win over the Guelph Storm. Palmu and Platzer had a goal and an assist in regulation time while Michael McNiven made 38 saves for Owen Sound. Tyler Bertuzzi scored a pair of goals for Guelph in the loss.

(PHOTO: Soo Greyhounds forward Jared McCann attempts a shot during a game Saturday against the visiting Peterborough Petes. McCann scored 1 goal in the 4-2 win over the Petes. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)

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