Game one goes to the dogs (16 photos)

Game one goes to the Soo Greyhounds.

The 2015 Ontario Hockey League playoffs opened for the Greyhounds on home ice on Friday night with a 5-1 victory over the Saginaw Spirit.

Although not perfect, the game was one that the Greyhounds saw in a positive light to open the playoffs.

“We had a lot of really good stretches in the game,” said Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. “There are a lot of things we can do better, which is a positive thing. We don’t want to be peaking in game one of the playoffs. We expected we might have to feel our way through things a bit.”

The pace of the game was also quicker than any the Greyhounds have played recently according to Keefe.

“We can be better but we haven’t played a game that fast in probably three or four months. It’s been a long time,” Keefe said. “That was a fast game out there. It’s playoff hockey and you need to find your way through that and we did as the game went on.”

Bryan Moore and Jared McCann had a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds in the win.

McCann’s goal, which was shorthanded, came at a point when the Spirit had scored a power play goal to cut the Greyhounds lead to 3-1 late in the second period and gave the Greyhounds some breathing room heading into the third period.

“The penalty kill was big for us,” said Keefe. “But it was more of a factor than we would like it to be.”

Justin Bailey, Michael Bunting and Zach Senyshyn also scored for the Greyhounds while nick Ritchie assisted on a pair of goals.

Goaltender Brandon Halverson made 25 saves.

“He was excellent,” Keefe said of the veteran netminder. “He’s been in a groove for some time here now and he was at it again but stepped it up with the urgency of the playoffs. He was excellent when we needed him to be but thankfully we didn’t need him a whole lot but when we did, he was great.”

Connor Brown had the lone goal for Saginaw while goaltender Evan Cormier made 29 saves.

“We did a lot of good things and our compete level was good,” said Spirit Coach Greg Gilbert. “But when we created opportunities, we didn’t finish.

“You’ve got to bury those. It changes the momentum and it changes the flow of the game.”

Keefe credited the visitors for making the game difficult at times.

“(Saginaw) played hard and when a team plays that hard, it’s tough,” Keefe said. “It’s tough to really be dominant. It’s a very difficult thing to do when you’ve got a team playing with a lot of pride and a lot of energy.”

Game two of the best-of-7 series is Saturday night in Sault Ste. Marie before the series shifts to Saginaw for games three and four next week

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, the Erie Otters evened their series with the Sarnia Sting at one game apiece thanks to a 3-1 win. Connor McDavid and Remi Elie had a goal and an assist each while Nicholas Baptiste also scored for Erie. Nikita Korostelev had the lone Sarnia goal. Game three is Sunday in Sarnia.

In North Bay, Nick Paul had two goals and an assist while Mike Amadio chipped in with a goal and two assists as the North Bay Battalion routed the Kingston Frontenacs 8-0 to take game one of their best-of-7 series. Marcus McIvor also had three points for North Bay thanks to three assists. Ryan Kujawinski also scored a pair of goals while Riley Bruce, Zach Bratina and Brenden Miller also chipped in with goals. Jake Smith made 18 saves for the shutout. Game two is Sunday in North Bay,

In Guelph, Jack Flinn made 30 saves as the Owen Sound Attack opened the playoffs with a 6-1 win over the Guelph Storm. Damir Sharipzyanov had a goal and two assists while Connor Walters, Daniel Milne, Jeffrey Gilligan, Erik Bradford and Justin Brack also scored for Owen Sound. Jason Dickinson had the lone goal for Guelph. Game two is Sunday in Guelph.

In London, a 35-save performance from goaltender Tyler Parsons helped the London Knights to a 3-1 series-opening win over the Kitchener Rangers. Mitchell Marner had a pair of goals for the Knights while Matt Rupert had a goal and two assists. Jake Paterson made 32 saves for Kitchener while Darby Llewellyn had the lone Rangers goal. Game two is Sunday in London.

In Oshawa, Tobias Lindberg had three goals and an assist as the Oshawa Generals cruised to a 7-2 series-opening win over the Peterborough Petes. Michael Dal Colle picked up three assists while Michael McCarron and Mitchell Vande Sompel added a goal and an assist each. Matt McCartney had the lone goal for the Petes. Game two is set for Sunday in Oshawa.

On Thursday night in the playoff openers around the league, the Sting shocked the Otters in Erie, beating the Western Conference’s second seed 3-2 in the series opener. Sarnia goaltender Taylor Dupuis made 32 saves. Stephen Pierog has the game-winner while Jeff King and Pavel Zacha also scored for the Sting. Elie and Alex DeBrincat scored for Erie while goaltender Devin Williams made 29 saves.

Dante Salituro had two goals and three assists to lead the Ottawa 67’s to a series-opening 8-5 win over the Niagara IceDogs at home. Jeremiah Addison scored twice and assisted on two other goals for Ottawa. Sam Studnicka chipped in with a goal and two assists while Trent Mallette, Nathan Todd and Travis Konecny also scored for Ottawa. Defenceman Vince Dunn scored four times for the IceDogs while Jordan Maletta had the other Niagara goal. Game two is Saturday in Ottawa.

In Barrie, MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 40 shots as the Barrie Colts opened the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Belleville Bulls. Garrett Hooey and Ben Harpur had a goal and an assist each for the Colts while Andrew Mangiapane also scored. Stephen Harper and Jordan Subban scored for Belleville while goaltender Charlie Graham stopped 37 shots. Game two is Monday night in Barrie.

(Soo Greyhounds forward Blake Speers jumps into the arms of teammate Justin Bailey immediately after a goal is scored during game one of their playoff series against the Saginaw Spirit on March 27, 2015 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)