Puck-possession paces Greyhounds

If you didn’t know that the Soo Greyhounds played short-staffed on Sunday afternoon in Owen Sound, you couldn’t tell by watching the game.

The Greyhounds, with seven veterans out of the lineup due to various injuries, skated to a 1-0 victory over the Attack to end a string of three games in four days on the road.

Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe credited the players that were in the lineup for what was one of their “grittiest games” of the season 2014-15 Ontario Hockey League season.

“We played as though we were a team that wasn’t short,” said Keefe. “The guys came out and played on the attack. Right from the start of the game we were in control of what was happening. That’s a credit to our guys for pushing through it even though they’re tired and some of them are playing different roles or playing more than they’re used to. It’s a really good win.”

Greyhounds goaltender Brandon Halverson made 17 saves for the shutout while overage forward Bryan Moore had the lone goal in the contest.

Owen Sound goaltender Jack Flinn made 42 saves.

“Our guys just executed the things that we wanted to,” Keefe said. “We had a sense of what we needed to do as a team to combat the type of game that Owen Sound plays.

“That allowed us to be in control of the game from start to finish.”

Keefe credited the Greyhounds puck-possession and ability to combat the Owen Sound forecheck as keys in the win.

“It was a lot of really good hockey. It certainly was good defensive play but a lot of it again was that we just did not spend very much time in our zone,” Keefe said. “We transitioned out of our zone really quickly and to be able to do that against that type of forecheck and with the type of people out of our lineup is a really good sign of our depth and our young people.”

After being injured on Friday night in Sarnia, rookie forward Tim Gettinger was in the lineup for the Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon but veteran forward Jared McCann didn’t dress.

Keefe said following Sunday’s game that the Vancouver Canucks prospect has been cleared to play but won’t be rushed back into the lineup.

“With the injury he has, he’s been cleared to play and he doesn’t have to miss any time,” Keefe said. “It’s more a matter of letting some swelling and some pain to subside.”

McCann joins six other Greyhounds on the list of injured players heading down the stretch, which includes Tyler Ganly (knee), Tyler Hore (done for the season with a broken bone in his wrist), Blake Speers (shoulder), Nick Ritchie (concussion), Darnell Nurse (knee) and Justin Bailey (ankle).

“Certainly (the win) is a very positive sign of what we’re capable of when times are tough and they certainly are tough,” Keefe said. “It’s been a tough road trip playing shorthanded with the type of people out. You’ve got to look for different ways to win games. We’re not the type of team that wins or even plays 1-0 type of hockey games. Our guys stuck with it, were mentally tough and found a way.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 50-11-0-2. It marks the first time since the 1984-85 season that the season has won 50 games. That Greyhounds team went 54-11-1.The Greyhounds continue to inch closer to clinching top spot in the OHL’s Western Conference. Their lead over the Erie Otters remains at 10 points as Erie also won on Sunday, beating the North Bay Battalion. The Otters have six games remaining on their schedule.

Owen Sound, currently fighting for playoff positioning in the Western Conference with the Guelph Storm and Kitchener Rangers, falls to 31-22-2-7. The Rangers gained two points on the Attack thanks to a 3-0 win over Saginaw on Sunday afternoon and are now three-points behind the Attack. The Storm entered the day three points ahead of Owen Sound the standings remained status quo as the Strom dropped a 5-2 decision in Sarnia.

With five regular season games remaining, the Greyhounds will wrap up the road portion of their schedule on Mar. 11 when they travel to North Bay to take on the Battalion. The team will then finish the season with four-straight at home beginning on Mar. 13 against the Plymouth Whalers.

****
OTHER SCORES

In Kingston, Sam Bennett had a goal and two assists to lead the Kingston Frontenacs to a 4-3 win over the London Knights. Lawson Crouse set up three goals while Evan McEneny, Ryan Verbeek and Spencer Watson also scored for Kingston. Max Domi, Matt Rupert and Victor Mete scored for the Knights while goaltender Tyler Parsons made 44 saves.

In Kitchener, Jake Paterson made 31 saves as the Kitchener Rangers blanked the Saginaw Spirit 3-0. David Miller had two goals and an assist while Brandon Robinson also scored for the Rangers. Spirit goaltender David Ovsjannikov stopped 43 shots.

In Mississauga, Cameron Zanussi made 36 saves as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Ottawa 67’s 3-2. Thomas Lattavo’s goal at 15:46 of the third period was the game-winning goal while Brandon Devlin and Stefan LeBlanc also scored. Travis Konecny and Brendan Bell scored for the 67’s.

In North Bay, the Erie Otters scored four times in the third period to beat the North Bay Battalion 5-3. Alex DeBrincat had two goals and two assists for the Otters while Remi Elie added a goal and an assist. Connor McDavid set up a pair of goals while Patrick Murphy and Dylan Strome completed the Erie scoring. Matthew Santos, Ryan Kujawinski and Zach Poirier scored for North Bay.

In Windsor, Cole Cassels had three goals and an assist to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 6-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Michael Dal Colle added a goal and two assists while Sam Harding chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Generals. Kenny Huether also scored for Oshawa. Cristiano DiGiacinto and Slater Doggett had a goal and an assist each for the Spitfires while Lucas Venuto also scored.

In Sarnia, Justin Fazio made 37 saves as the Sarnia Sting beat the Guelph Storm 5-2. Patrick white, Davis Brown, Jordan Kyrou and Nikita Korostelev had a goal and an assist each for the Sting while Kevin Spinozzi picked up a pair of assists for Sarnia. Jeff King also scored for Sarnia. Pius Suter had both goals for Guelph.

(Photo courtesy Soo Greyhounds)