Greyhounds struggle in final pre-Christmas game

The Soo Greyhounds will head into the Christmas break on a sour note.

The Greyhounds dropped a 5-1 decision to the Kitchener Rangers at the Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener on Friday night in their final Ontario Hockey League game before Christmas.

After opening up a 1-0 lead through one period, the Rangers scored three times in the second period to break the game open. The Rangers finished the night with a pair of goals on the power play in eight opportunities.

Rookie forward Adam Mascherin led the way for the Rangers with a goal and two assists in the win. Kitchener netminder Matthew Greenfield made 29 saves. Gustaf Franzen, Curtis Meighan, Mike Davies and Justin Bailey also scored for the Rangers, who continue to battle the Owen Sound Attack and Guelph Storm for positioning in the OHL’s Midwest Division. Just four points separate the three teams heading into the final two days of league action before Christmas.

Sophomore forward Blake Speers had the lone goal for the Greyhounds in the loss while rookie goaltender Joseph Raaymakers made 29 saves.

With the loss, the Greyhounds record drops to 25-7-0-2 as they head into the Christmas break. Kitchener improves to 15-11-2-4 with the win.

The Greyhounds enter the Christmas break with 52 points and a 15-point lead over the Sarnia Sting in the West Division and a two-point lead over the Erie Otters in the Western Conference.

The Otters are in action on Saturday night when they wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule in Guelph against the Storm.

The Greyhounds return to action on Dec. 28 when they travel to Saginaw to take on the Spirit. Next home action for the team is Dec. 30 when they host the Spirit in the first game of a three-game homestand that will also see them face the Ottawa 67’s and Oshawa Generals.

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Dylan Strome and Travis Dermott scored shootout goals to lead the Erie Otters to a 6-5 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Dermott, Nick Betz and Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist each in regulation time for the Otters. Mason Marchment and Nicholas Baptiste also scored in the win while Strome set up a pair of goals. Cody Payne had a goal and an assist for Niagara while Matt Gillard set up a pair of goals in the loss. Vince Dunn, Jordan Maletta, Graham Knott and Christopher Paquette also scored for the Ice Dogs.

In Kingston, Dylan Wells made 35 saves to lead the Peterborough Petes to a 3-1 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Josh MacDonald scored a pair of goals for Peterborough in the win. Michael Clarke chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Petes. Ryan Verbeeok had the lone goal for Kingston in the loss.

In North Bay, the Oshawa Generals used three unanswered goals in the final two period of play to beat the North Bay Battalion 5-2. Sam Harding (one goal, one assist), Mitchell Vande Sompel (two assists) and Chris Carlisle (two assists) had multi-point nights for the Generals in the win. Cliff Pu, Michael Turner, Hunter Smith and Stephen Desrocher also scored for Oshawa in the win. Miles Liberati and Brett McKenzie scored for North Bay in the loss.

In Sarnia, Brandon Lindberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Sarnia Sting to a 4-1 win over the Saginaw Spirit. Hayden Hodgson chipped in with a goal and two assists for the Sting. Jakob Chychrun also scored for Sarnia while Stephen Pierog set up a pair of goals. Sting goaltender Taylor Dupuis made 27 saves. Kris Bennett had the lone goal for Saginaw in the loss.

In London, Matt Rupert scored a pair of goals to lead the London Knights to a 4-1 win over the Guelph Storm. Mitchell Marner set up three goals for the Knights while Zach Grzelewski chipped in with a goal and an assist for London. John Warren had the other London goal in the win. Luke Cairns had the lone goal for Guelph in the loss.

In Mississauga, Leo Lazarev made 29 saves as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Mississauga Steelheads 4-1. Dante Salituro had a goal and an assist for the 67’s in the win. Jeremiah Addison and Evan de Haan chipped in with a pair of assists each. Travis Konecny, Kevin Groulx and Nathan Todd also scored for Ottawa. Mississauga goaltender Spencer Martin made 40 saves in the loss while Sam Babintsev had the lone Steelheads goal.

In Sudbury, Brendan Lemieux scored four times to lead the Barrie Colts to an 8-3 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Rasmus Andersson had a pair of goals and an assist in the win while Josh Carrick and Garrett Hooey also scored. Joseph Blandisi and Kevin Labanc set up three goals each for the Colts. Danny Desrochers, Jacob Harris and Cole Mayo scored for Sudbury in the loss. Matt Schmalz and Nathan Pancel had two assists each for the Wolves.