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Greyhounds edged in overtime (8 photos)

Just looking at the result from the Soo Greyhounds Ontario Hockey League season opener Friday night, it would be easy to think it just wasn’t a good night.

Just looking at the result from the Soo Greyhounds Ontario Hockey League season opener Friday night, it would be easy to think it just wasn’t a good night.

The Greyhounds fell 3-2 in overtime to the Windsor Spitfires Friday evening at the Essar Centre in the first game of the 2015-16 regular season for the club.

Despite the loss, it wasn’t all doom and gloom following the contest for the Greyhounds.

“I really liked the way we competed,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister. “We had second efforts that I didn’t see in Saturday’s game last week. We played with a lot more pace and created opportunities off the rush.”

Mikhail Sergachev scored 28 seconds into overtime after getting in behind the Greyhounds defensively and taking a pass from Christian Fischer before beating Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers five-hole.

“It was a defenceman on our team who jumped (into the play) and I don’t think (the Greyhounds) were anticipating him jumping,” Spitfires Coach Rocky Thompson said. “All of a sudden he jumped and (Christian) Fischer made an excellent pass.

“He came against the grain there and then he sauced it,” Thompson said of Fischer’s pass. “He came from left to right, which is kind of weird because he had to pause to bring it back and he had to pass through an individual who was right in his way as well to get it behind their defencemen and on Sergechev’s stick as well.”

The game showcased the OHL’s new three-on-three overtime format, which came into play this season.

“You’ve got to be aware of your check and stay above him at all times,” Bannister said of the game-winner. “For one second if you lose him, they get that extra step and we saw that’s what happened tonight.

“That’s a learning process for all of our guys on the ice and on the bench,” Bannister added.

Sault Ste. Marie native Anthony Stefano had a goal and an assist for the Spitfires while Fischer had a pair of assists. Aaron Luchuk also scored for Windsor while rookie netminder Michael DiPietro stopped 26 shots for his first OHL victory in his first career start.

Boris Katchouk and Jack Kopacka scored for the Greyhounds while goaltender Joseph Raaymakers stopped 19 shots.

“He was great,” Bannister said of the sophomore netminder. “He made the saves he needed to make. You can’t ask for anything more that he did for us.”

Getting more shots on goal was something that plagued the Greyhounds at times in the loss.

“One of the things we can do a lot better is start throwing pucks on net,” Bannister said. “We were a little too cute in some areas and we need to do a better job of throwing pucks to the net and getting traffic there.”

The Greyhounds wrap up the opening weekend of action on Saturday night against the Niagara IceDogs. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m.

Notes: Bannister said that Anthony DeMeo and Brandon Halverson, who did not dress on Friday night due to injury, would not be available for Saturday’s game but could be day-to-day heading into the Greyhounds first road trip of the season next weekend.

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OTHER SCORES

In Kingston. Roy Radke scored 3:#3 into overtime to lift the Barrie Colts to a 4-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Michael Webster scored a pair of goals for the Colts while Andrew Mangiapane added a goal and an assist. Cordell Hames and Justin Scott assisted on two goals each for Barrie. Goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood made 42 saves. Juho Lammikko had a goal and an assist for Kingston while Roland McKeown assisted on a pair of goals. Chad Duchesne and Ryan Cranford also scored for the Frontenacs.

In North Bay, Greg Betzold scored a pair of goals while goaltender Dylan Wells stopped 31 shots as the Peterborough Petes beat the North Bay Battalion 4-1. Adam Timleck had a goal and an assist for the Petes while Steven Lorentz also scored. Zach Poirier scored the lone goal for North Bay.

In Sudbury, Josh Ho-Sang had a goal and three assists to lead the Niagara IceDogs to an 8-1 victory over the Sudbury Wolves. Blake Siebenaler and Anthony DiFruscia added a goal and two assists for Niagara. Vince Dunn, Jordan Maletta, Matt Gillard, Ryan Mantha and Nick Pastorious also scored for the IceDogs. Rookie David Levin scored the lone Wolves goal while goaltender Troy Timpano made 38 saves.

In Sarnia. Nick Betz, Jake Marchment, Kyle Pettit, Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Maksimovich had a goal and an assist each as the Erie Otters beat the Sarnia Sting 5-4. Goaltender Devin Williams stopped 35 shots. Jakob Chychrun, Hayden Hodgson, Alexandre Renaud and Daniel Nikandrov scored for Sarnia.

In Guelph, Jeremy Brodeur stopped all 23 shots he faced as the Oshawa Generals beat the Guelph Storm 3-0. Matt Mistele assisted on a pair of goals while Owen McDade, Kenny Huether and Lukas Lofquist completed the Oshawa scoring. Guelph goaltender Justin Nichols made 26 saves.

In Kitchener, newly-acquired forward Bryson Cianfrone scored at 4:27 of overtime to lift the Owen Sound Attack to a 5-4 win over the Kitchener Rangers. Cianfrone had a goal and two assists for the Attack while Santino Centorame and Nick Suzuki added a goal and an assist each. Josh Sterk also assisted on a pair of goals for Owen Sound. Ethan Szypula and Jaden Lindo also scored for the Attack. Jake Henderson scored a pair of goals while Adam Mascherin and Darby Llewellyn also scored for the Rangers.

In London, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists as the London Knights beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-3. Kole Sherwood, Aaron Berisha and J.J. Piccinich had a goal and an assist for London while Owen MacDonald also scored for the Knights. Jake Bricknell, Matt Luff and Stephen Harper scored for Hamilton.

In Mississauga, Jared Walsh had a goal and three assists to lead the Mississauga Steelheads to a 7-0 victory over the Ottawa 67’s. Nathan Bastien scored twice and assisted on another while Josh Burnside also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. David Muzito-Bagenda, Brendan Harrogate and Marcus Dickerson also scored for the Steelheads.

(PHOTO: Greyhounds forward Zachary Senyshyn collides with Jalen Chatfield of the Windsor Spitfires during a game tonight at the Essar Centre. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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