Take two: Greyhounds cap weekend with road win (update)

After struggling through their first six road games this season, the Soo Greyhounds have rebounded some against a pair of Ontario Hockey League divisional opponents.

The Greyhounds picked up a 4-2 road win Sunday afternoon against the Windsor Spitfires at the WFCU Centre. The win capped off a weekend that saw them beat the Plymouth Whalers 8-1 in Plymouth on Saturday night.

“We played well,” said Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. “It was a challenging game for us coming here off the quick turnaround after playing last night and playing a team here that was rested and at home. It was an overall good effort by our guys. We’re happy with the progress shown here this weekend.”

Anthony Salinitri scored a shorthanded goal just over six minutes into the second period for his first Ontario Hockey League goal and that goal would prove to be the game-winner.

“We’re thrilled for him,” Keefe said. “It’s one that will be memorable for him and it was a meaningful one for us. It’s funny how these things work out. The prediction before the game, you would probably say that today would have been a good day for Sally to score his first goal.”

It was an afternoon of firsts in the game as Hayden McCool scored his first goal for the Windsor Spitfires after being acquired from the Niagara IceDogs on Friday in a trade that saw New York Islanders prospect Josh Ho-Sang dealt to the IceDogs.

Defenceman Trevor Murphy had the other goal for Windsor in the loss while goaltender Alex Fotinos stopped 30 shots in the loss.

“(In the first period) we had the puck a lot but didn’t produce much in terms of opportunities,” Keefe said. “Part of that was our own doing and part was credit to Windsor. They defended well and protected the middle of the ice well. That made it challenging.”

“We produced a lot of chances in that second period that we couldn’t capitalize on,” Keefe added. “It might have been a much different game if we were able to capitalize on those chances we had early on in the second.”

Keefe credited a late-game play by forward Gabe Guertler as the 19-year-old centre blocked a Trevor Murphy point shot and turned the play into an empty net goal to seal the victory for the Greyhounds in the final moments of the contest.

“That shot block in particular was tremendous,” Keefe said. “If that puck gets through, who knows what happens. Instead of it getting at our net, we block it, retrieve it and five seconds later it’s in the empty net and the game’s over. That’s a big time play and that’s why he’s on the ice there. He has the ability and the willingness to make those kind of plays.”

Keefe also said he felt the Greyhounds defensively game took a “positive step” in the contest.

“We did a pretty good job defensively,” Keefe said.

“You see that the shots and chances are down and that’s a positive step,” Keefe also said. “Windsor’s a team that has had some struggles producing offence this season. I don’t think it’s all on what we did but at the same time it is an improvement and it’s an area that we want to improve on. It’s baby steps for us and it’s going to be a work in progress for quite a while. Overall, we were happy with the effort and happy with the result.”

Guertler finished the day with a pair of goals while Darnell Nurse had the other tally for the Greyhounds in the win.

Brandon Halverson stopped 23 shots in the win.

After missing four games due to illness, Jared McCann made his return to the Greyhounds lineup Sunday afternoon, picking up an assist in the win.

The string of road games continues for the Greyhounds as they begin another trip on Thursday night in Peterborough. The trip will also see the Greyhounds make their lone visits to Ottawa (Nov. 21) and Kingston (Nov. 23).

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OTHER SCORES

In North Bay, Spencer Martin made 29 saves as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the North Bay Battalion 3-1. Bryson Cianfrone had a goal and an assist for Mississauga in the win while Jesse Barwell and Brandon Devlin also scored. Sault native Mike Amadio had the lone goal for North Bay.

In Ottawa, Sam Studnicka scored three times to lead the Ottawa 67’s to an 8-5 win over the Guelph Storm. Nathan Todd chipped in a pair of goals in the win while Dante Salituro, Jacob Middleton and Jeremiah Addison also scored. Tyler Hill set up three goals for the 67’s while Ben Fanjoy, Travis Barron and Trent Mallette had two assists each. Zac Leslie and Robby Fabbri had two goals and an assist each for Guelph in the loss. Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for the Storm.

In Kitchener, Brody Milne had the shootout winner as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Kitchener Rangers 3-2. Sudbury goaltender Samuel Tanguay stopped 46 shots and five Rangers shooters in the shootout. Kitchener goaltender made 34 saves.

File photo: Soo Greyhounds forward Anthony Salinitri; Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday