Speers, Jenkins pace Greyhounds to win (video)

A pair of second-year players came up big as the Soo Greyhounds continued their three-game homestand on Friday night.

Blake Speers and Kyle Jenkins had multi-point nights at the Greyhounds beat the Kingston Frontenacs 3-2 at the Essar Centre in Ontario Hockey League action.

Speers scored a pair of goals for the Greyhounds in the win, including the game-winner with 2:16 remaining in the third period. Speers along with linemates Jared McCann and Zach Senyshyn had a solid night.

“I thought Blake Speers had his best game in a long time,” said Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. “The line as a whole was clicking. They scored us two very big goals. It’s not necessarily something we’ve been thinking about (putting the trio together). It’s just with our injuries, guys away and the suspension to Michael Bunting, everything is kind of juggled up and the bingo balls landed on that line. We thought it might have the ingredients of a good line and through two games it’s been good.”

Jenkins set up a pair of goals in the win, including feeding Sergey Tolchinsky on a 2-on-1 in the second period that put the Greyhounds ahead 2-1 at the time.

“He’s been outstanding here of late,” Keefe said of the blueliner. “The last few weeks, he’s really come along. He’s making plays, he’s moving his feet.”

McCann also had two assists for the Greyhounds. Goaltender Brandon Halverson made 21 saves in the win.

“It was a test that we needed,” Keefe said of the win. “I don’t want to say that things have been easy but things have been pretty comfortable around here and it was nice to get pushed the way we did today and see how we respond.”

The Greyhounds didn’t get off the start they wanted to in the opening period but Keefe noted that the way Kingston played had something to do with the start.

“We didn’t have the type of first period we wanted but you have to give some credit to (Kingston),” Keefe said. “They played hard. Some nights, the other team is going to challenge us a little bit.”

“It’s difficult, no matter who you’re playing, to come out and get control right away,” said Keefe. “It’s hard because you’re playing a rested team that’s coming at us. They had a game-plan and played with purpose. It takes time to settle in, let your depth take control and find a way through the game.”

Robert Polesello scored both goals for the Frontenacs while goaltender Lucas Peressini stopped 37 shots.

“For the most part, we played pretty well,” said Kingston coach Paul McFarland. “A lot of guys gave it all they had. I thought we deserved a point out of (the game) at least.”

The Frontenacs played the game without forwards Spencer Watson, Ryan Kujawinski and Lawson Crouse. Watson and Kujawinski are out of the lineup due to injury while Crouse is competing for a spot on the Canadian National Junior Team.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys playing a lot of minutes that they’re not used to playing,” said McFarland. “I don’t think we have to hang our heads walking away from this game. It could have gone either way.”

“It’s good to face adversity,” McFarland also said. “It’s good to see what the other guys have.”

Keefe credited the Frontenacs for their play with a short bench.

“Credit (to Kingston), they didn’t show any signs of slowing down,” Keefe said. “Over the course of the game and in the third period, they kept coming. We were getting tired. We haven’t played too many games at that type of speed and that type of intensity.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 23-6-0-2 and are tied for top spot in the OHL’s Western Conference while leading the West Division by 14 points over the Sarnia Sting. Kingston falls to 13-11-1-2 with the loss.

The Greyhounds wrap up their three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they host the Windsor Spitfires. Puck drop is set for 2:07 p.m.

****
OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Alex DeBrincat had a goal and three assists to lead the Erie Otters to a 6-4 win over the Saginaw Spirit. Dylan Strome and Nick Betz added a goal and an assist each while Taylor Raddysh, Kurtis MacDermid and Travis Dermott also scored in the win. Jacob Ringuette had a goal and an assist for Saginaw while Jack Webb, Keaton Middleton and Jesse Barwell also scored in the loss.

In St. Catharines, Brendan Perlini had a goal and two assists to lead the Niagara IceDogs to a 5-3 win over the Oshawa Generals. Brian Brosnan added a goal and an assist in the win. Josh Ho-Sang picked up three assists. Christopher Paquette, Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Haydon also scored in the win while goaltender Brent Moran stopped 33 shots. Aidan Wallace, Bradley Latour and Sam Harding scored for Oshawa.

In Guelph, Luke Cairns and Pius Suter scored shootout goals to lead the Guelph Storm to a 4-3 win over the Owen Sound Attack. Cairns, Tyler Bertuzzi and Matthew Hotchkiss scored for Guelph in regulation time. Zach Nastasiuk, Jacob Busch and Kyle Platzer scored for Owen Sound in the loss.

In Kitchener, Taylor Dupuis made 38 saves as the Sarnia Sting beat the Kitchener Rangers 4-1. Patrick White had a goal and an assist while Kevin Spinozzi set up two goals in the win. Troy Lajuenesse, Daniel Nikandrov and Nikita Korostelev also scored for Sarnia. Gustaf Franzen scored for Kitchener in the loss.

In London, Christian Dvorak had three goals and two assists as the London Knights beat the Plymouth Whalers 6-4. Mitchell Marner added a goal and three assists while Michael McCarron chipped in with a goal and two assists. Julius Bergman had a goal and an assist in the win while Matt Rupert also had a pair of helpers. Knights’ goaltender Tyler Parsons stopped 37 shots. Sonny Milano had a goal and two assists for the Whalers while Victor Crus Rydberg set up three goals. Mathew Campagna added a goal and an assist for Plymouth. Matt Mistele and Connor Sills also scored in the loss. Plymouth goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 44 shots.

In Mississauga, Jake Smith made 28 saves as the North Bay Battalion blanked the Mississauga Steelheads 5-0. Mike Amadio had a pair of goals for North Bay while Brett McKenzie and Alex Henriksson added a goal and an assist each. Mike Baird also scored in the win. Defenceman Kyle Wood set up three goals for the Battalion.

In Ottawa, Leo Lazarev made 33 saves as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Belleville Bulls 4-1. Erik Bradford had a goal and an assist for Ottawa. Dante Salituro, Kevin Groulx and Brendan Bell also scored for the 67’s. Adam Laishram had the lone goal for Belleville.

In Sudbury, Troy Timpano stopped all 43 shots he faced as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Windsor Spitfires 3-0. Chad Heffernan had a goal and an assist for Sudbury while Nathan Pancel and Kyle Capobianco set up two goals each. Danny Desrochers and Matt Schmalz also scored for the Wolves. Alex Fotinos made 30 saves for the Spitfires.

To check out SooToday's Live Blog of Friday's game, click here

For video highlights, click here

(File Photo: Soo Greyhounds forward Blake Speers  Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)