Greyhounds double up Sting (5 photos)

It’s not time off in the true sense of the phrase but it’s going to feel like it for the Soo Greyhounds.

The team will be out of game action until Mar. 21 after a 6-3 win over the Sarnia Sting on Saturday night at the Essar Centre.

The team has now won 14 of 15 in what has been a busy stretch of action that saw the team clinch the division and conference titles and keep pace atop the Ontario Hockey League standings.

“The one thing about this stretch we’ve been on here is not only that we have not had a lot of these guys in our lineup but we haven’t practiced,” said Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. “It’s been really tough the last six weeks for practice time. We’re looking forward to this week to get some. It’s a really good opportunity to tighten some things up and fully get everybody integrated. Practice is important and we haven’t had that in a long time.”

On Saturday, the Greyhounds recovered from a sub-par opening period to break a 1-1 tie with three power play goals, and four total, in the second period en route to the win.

“We found our legs in the second and third periods,” said Keefe. “We decided that we weren’t happy with the way things were going.”

“That first period performance was pretty predictable from our guys,” Keefe also said. “I was happy that we found our way out of it.”

Both coaches agreed the power play goals in the middle period were a major difference.

“They weren’t necessarily traditional power play-type goals but we found a way to put it in the net with a (power play),” said Keefe. “That was an important part of our game.”

“This Sault team is so dynamic and so dangerous that they score in bunches,” said Sting Coach Trevor Letowski. “We came out and played a solid first period against a good team and we were right in it. We’ve played good chunks of minutes against (the Greyhounds). We’ve pushed them a little bit at times. We just break and give up goals and it just breaks the game open.”

Blake Speers, who recently returned from injury, set up three goals for the Greyhounds.

“He seemed to have his legs and he was moving the puck really well,” said Keefe. “One of the real turning points of the game was when we changed the lines and put Blake at centre in the second period. It seemed to just spark things and not just when he was on the ice.”

Speers said he has been getting settled back into the lineup since being off with a shoulder injury.

“The three-week layoff was tough on me,” Speers said. “I was a little bit tired, my timing was off and I wasn’t used to playing again but in that first game I was getting used to it. I was even more comfortable in there today. That’s just going to keep going as we practice this week and get into the final two games of the season.”

Michael Bunting, Nick Ritchie and Sergey Tolchinsky had a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds while Gustav Bouramman added a pair of assists. Medric Mercier, Colton White and Bryan Moore also scored.

Goaltender Brandon Halverson made 28 saves.

Justin Fazio got the start in goal for the Sting but was pulled after the fifth Greyhounds goal. Fazio made 10 saves before making way for Taylor Dupuis, who stopped 14 of 15 shots the rest of the way.

“We’re just having some issues getting big saves at the right times,” Letowski said. “I’m not going to sit here and just rip on our goalies because we’ve got other issues but it’s definitely been a concern.”

Davis Brown scored twice for the Sting while Nikita Korostelev also scored.

Letowski said he was pleased with the play of the Sting in the opening period in the loss.

“If we’re going to have some success in the playoffs, that’s the brand of hockey that we’re going to need to play,” Letowski said. “We haven’t had a lot of results lately. We seem to be finding ways to lose games but we’ve been playing pretty well despite what our record shows in the last 10 or 15 games.”

The Greyhounds are now 52-12-0-2 and continue to hold a three-point edge over the Oshawa Generals atop the OHL standings. The Generals were also in action on Saturday night, beating the Mississauga Steelheads 6-1. Oshawa also holds two games in hand on the Greyhounds.

The Sting are settled into the seventh seed in the OHL’s Western Conference with a 28-30-4-3 record.
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The Greyhounds return to action on Mar. 21 when they host the Windsor Spitfires in a 7:07 p.m. start. The team will wrap up the regular season the following afternoon against the Kitchener Rangers.

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist as the Erie Otters beat the Windsor Spitfires 4-1. Remi Elie added a goal and an assist while Darren Raddysh also scored. Brendan Johnston stopped 37 shots for the Spitfires while Slater Doggett had the lone Windsor goal.

In Kingston, Lucas Peressini stopped all 26 shots he faced as the Kingston Frontenacs blanked the North Bay Battalion 3-0. Sam Bennett had three goals and an assist in the win. Lawson Crouse chipped in with a goal and two assists while Ryan Verbeek and Conor McGlynn also scored. Jake Smith stopped 33 shots for North Bay.

In St. Catharines, Vince Dunn had a goal and an assist as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Sudbury Wolves 4-3. Mitchell Fitzmorris had the game-winning goal while Brendan Perlini and Anthony DiFruscia also scored for the IceDogs. Danny Desrochers, Conor Cummins and Brody Silk scored for the Wolves.

In Belleville, Jeremiah Addison’s third-period goal was the game-winner as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Belleville Bulls 3-2. Brendan Bell and Alex Lintuniemi also scored for Ottawa. Justin Lemcke and David Tomasek scored for Belleville.

In Oshawa, Tobias Lindberg and Michael Dal Colle had a goal and an assist each as the Oshawa Generals beat the Mississauga Steelheads 6-1. Dakota Mermis, Hunter Smith, Anthony Cirelli and Matt Mistele also scored for the Generals. Mississauga goaltender Jacob Brennan stopped 45 shots while Everett Clark had the lone Steelheads goal.

In Saginaw, Jesse Barwell scored at 2:52 of overtime to lift the Saginaw Spirit to a 6-5 win over the Plymouth Whalers. Barwell had two goals and two assists for the Spirit. Artem Artemov, Jacob Ringuette, Blake Clarke and Vladislav Kodola also scored for Saginaw. Sonny Milano had a goal and three assists for the Whalers. Vincent Scognamiglio chipped in with a goal and two assists while Mathew Campagna, Will Bitten and Mathieu Henderson also scored for the Whalers.

In Barrie, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 38 shots as the Barrie Colts shut out the Peterborough Petes 3-0. Joseph Blandisi had a pair of goals while Cordell James also scored for Barrie. Matthew Mancina stopped 31 shots for the Petes.

In Owen Sound, Kyle Platzer scored at 1:57 of overtime to give the Owen Sound Attack a 2-1 victory over the London Knights. Platzer and Zach Nastasiuk had a goal and an assist each for the Attack while goaltender Michael McNiven stopped 37 shots. Michael Giugovaz stopped 34 shots for London while Matt Rupert had the lone Knights goal.

(PHOTO: Goaltender Brandon Halverson of the Soo Greyhounds reaches out for a loose puck during a game against the visiting Sarnia Sting on March 14, 2015 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)