Record-setting finish (7 photos)

Sunday was another big day for the Soo Greyhounds.

Having clinched top spot in the Ontario Hockey League standings less than 24 hours earlier, the Greyhounds ended the regular season by setting a new franchise record for points in a season with 110 thanks to a 3-0 shutout of the Kitchener Rangers at the Essar Centre.

The new mark breaks the previous franchise high of 109, set in the 1984-85 season.

“The last few weeks have been tough to get through,” said Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. “It turned out to be a good thing. We got lucky that different things popped up to give the games some significance. We’ve all had our eye towards the post-season. We get to close the book on this. It’s been an excellent regular season. It’s been fun to be a part of. Now we get to go into where it gets really fun.”

After a scoreless opening period, Gabe Guertler opened the scoring 1:19 into the middle frame and Michael Bunting made it 2-0 later in the frame. Nick Ritchie capped off the scoring early in the third period.

“We’ve been on our guys about managing the puck well and making life easier,” said Keefe. “We wanted to make the game easier on ourselves today and not have to expend a lot of energy. We didn’t get to rest a lot of guys because of injuries and the availability of callups just didn’t give us an opportunity to do that so we wanted to make the game easier on ourselves.

“The chances and the shots against reflected that,” added Keefe. “We didn’t do much to make things hard on ourselves and that was the goal going in.”

It was a big night for Brandon Halverson in goal as the sophomore goaltender stopped 18 shots to pick up win number 40 to set a new franchise record in what Keefe called a “relatively easy night.

Keefe did say that had the Rangers scored, Halverson likely would have come out of the game for Joseph Raaymakers. The shutout gives Halverson six on the season to tie the record that Matt Murray set last season.

Halverson’s eight career shutouts puts him in a tie for second all-time, also with Murray. Kayle Gajewski holds the career record with 12.

Dawson Carty got the start for the Rangers, stopping 34 shots.

“I probably owe him a coffee or a dinner,” Rangers Coach Troy Smith said. “In the last week I’ve given him Erie, Plymouth and the Soo, two teams that have scored 300 goals. He did a great job. That’s a credit to him behind the scenes with our goalie coach Kain Tisi for working every day and making sure that he stays sharp.”

Smith was pleased with the Rangers play in the game despite the loss.

“It’s habits and it’s opportunity for some of the younger guys to play big minutes,” Smith said of Sunday’s game plan. “We just wanted to continue to play hard and work on the details of our game and make sure we’re playing the right way going into next week.”

The Greyhounds finish the regular season with a 54-12-0-2 record as they prepare for the opening round of the playoffs.

Kitchener finishes the season with a 32-26-3-7 record and head into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Rangers will face the London Knights in the opening round.

The Greyhounds open the playoffs on Mar. 27 against the Saginaw Spirit.

The full first round schedule is:

Game 1 – Mar. 27 at 7:07 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie
Game 2 – Mar. 28 at 7:07 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie
Game 3 – Mar. 31 at 7:11 p.m. in Saginaw
Game 4 – Apr. 2 at 7:11 p.m. in Saginaw
Game 5 – Apr. 3 at 7:07 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie (if necessary)
Game 6 – Apr. 5 at 4 p.m. in Saginaw (if necessary)
Game 7 – Apr. 7 at 7:07 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie (if necessary)

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OTHER SCORES

In Guelph, Robby Fabbri scored three times to lead the Guelph Storm to a 6-2 win over the Sarnia Sting. Pius Suter chipped in with two goals and an assist while Jason Dickinson also scored for Guelph. Givani Smith and Tyler Bertuzzi assisted on two goals each. Hayden Hodgson and Davis Brown scored for Sarnia.

In Mississauga, Jacob Brennan stopped 39 shots as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Peterborough Petes 4-2. Michael McLeod scored twice for Mississauga while Everett Clark and Damian Bourne also scored for the Steelheads. Petes goaltender Dylan Wells stopped 35 shots. Steven Lorentz and Josh Maguire scored for Peterborough.

In North Bay, Jake Kment made 21 saves as the North Bay Battalion blanked the Kingston Frontenacs 6-0. Brenden Miller and Ryan Kujawinski had two goals each while Austin Kosack chipped in with a goal and two assists. Brett McKenzie also scored for North Bay. Mike Amadio assisted on three goals for the Battalion. Jeremy Helvig made 15 saves for Kingston.

In Ottawa, Nathan Todd scored a pair of goals to lead the Ottawa 67’s to a 6-0 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Dante Salituro set up three goals for Ottawa, Ben Fanjoy, Jeremiah Addison, Jacob Middleton and Trent Mallette also scored for the 67’s while goaltender Liam Herbst stopped all 15 shots he faced. Troy Timpano stopped 27 shots for the Wolves.

In St. Catharines, Travis Dermott’s power play goal at 15:07 of the third period was the game-winner as the Erie Otters beat the Niagara IceDogs 8-7. Dylan Strome had four goals and two assists while Alex DeBrincat added a goal and five assists for the Otters. Nicholas Baptiste scored a pair of goals for Erie. Cody Payne had a goal and two assists for the IceDogs while Jordan Maletta chipped in with a pair of goals. Matt Gillard assisted on three Niagara goals. Ryan Mantha, Christopher Paquette, Mikkel Aagaard and Vince Dunn also scored for the IceDogs.

In Oshawa, the Oshawa Generals overcame a 62-save performance by Belleville Bulls goaltender Connor Hicks to beat the Bulls 3-1. Tobias Lindberg, Michael Turner and Chris Carlisle scored for the Generals while Trent Fox scored for the Bulls.

(PHOTO: Jared McCann battles to control the puck as the Hounds faced Kitchener in their final regular season game at the Essar Centre on Sunday, March 22 2015. Donna Hopper/SooToday)