Big night for Kerins spurs Greyhounds to victory over Colts (video)

The final road trip ahead of the Christmas break started with a lot of positives for the Soo Greyhounds.

Killing off a key penalty in the second period along with a strong performance from a trio of players led to an 8-3 Ontario Hockey League win for the Greyhounds over the Barrie Colts on Thursday night at Sadlon Arena in Barrie.

After a tough loss on home ice Sunday afternoon against the Erie Otters, Greyhounds coach John Dean was pleased with the start to the game for the Greyhounds, which saw the team leading 4-2 through 20 minutes.

“I really liked the start,” Dean said. “It says a lot about our team and how far we’ve come and what we want to do as a group. I still think we have a ways to go.”

Rory Kerins paced the Greyhounds offensively with two goals and two assists in the win.

Dean called Kerins’ production of late “a huge boost” for the team, adding he feels Kerins’ shot is underrated.

“Rory Kerins is known for his IQ and his playmaking ability,” Dean said. “Over the last two weeks, he’s really commanded the puck and wants to be a shooter. Because opponents know how good he is at passing the puck, sometimes he catches them off guard by letting the puck rip.”

“I’ve been getting a lot of chances and playing well, and the puck is just going in now,” Kerins said of his play of late.

Kerins has five goals in his last five games.

The line of Kerins, Cole MacKay, and Joe Carroll combined for six goals and nine points. MacKay had two goals and an assist while Carroll chipped in with a pair of goals.

“Joe Carroll is another guy who seems to have found an identity over the last month and he’s playing really good hockey,” Dean said. “It seems like every time we do video with Joe, he’s had two or three really good chances in a game.

“Now you’ve got Rory Kerins out there with high hockey IQ and Cole MacKay, who can shoot the puck, it’s become a pretty dangerous line,” Dean added. “They seem to have formed an identity and they like to play together.

“We’re getting to know each other every game more and more and we like playing with each other,” MacKay said.

With the Greyhounds leading 4-3 midway through the second period, the team killed off a double minor to forward Tanner Dickinson and Kerins proceeded to score eight seconds after the penalty finished to increase the lead.

“That was a big opportunity for our penalty kill to step up,” Dean said. “The momentum was starting to shift in (Barrie’s) direction.”

The Greyhounds killed off all six Barrie power plays in the game.

“I was really happy with the PK,” Dean said. “Guys just seem like they go out there with confidence and want to be aggressive.  Anytime you’re forcing a team to make three or four good passes in a row you have a good chance at having a successful penalty kill.”

“As of late, we’ve looked very aggressive and very confident,” Dean added.

Cullen McLean had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds while Billy Constantinou had the other Sault goal.

Holden Wale and Zack Trott assisted on two goals each for the Sault.

Goaltender Bailey Brkin stopped 22 shots.

Jason Willms had a goal and an assist for the Colts.

Tyson Foerster and Tyler Tucker also scored for Barrie. Luke Bignell assisted on two goals.

Goaltender Arturs Silovs made 27 saves.

In a tight battle in the OHL’s Western Conference, the Greyhounds improve to 16-16-2-0 with the win. With 34 points, the team sits tied with the Erie Otters for eighth, though the Greyhounds hold the tiebreaker with more wins.

The Western Conference standings remain tight with 11 points separating the 10 teams in the conference.

With six straight losses, the Colts fall to 13-14-1-1.

The Greyhounds will wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule on Friday night in Kitchener against the Rangers.

In other action around the OHL on Thursday night, in St. Catharines, Anthony Agostinelli, Cameron Snow, and Philip Tomasino had two goals and an assist each as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Kingston Frontenacs 11-3. Ivan Lodnia chipped in with a goal and two assists for Niagara. Jonah De Simone and Oliver Castleman added a pair of goals each.

In North Bay, Brandon Coe and Brad Chenier had two goals and an assist each as the North Bay Battalion beat the London Knights 7-4. Mitchell Russell had a goal and two assists for the Battalion. Nathan Dunkley scored twice for London.

In Peterborough, Declan Chisholm had a goal and two assists as the Peterborough Petes beat the Oshawa Generals 4-1. Zach Gallant chipped in with a goal and an assist while Semyon Der-Arguchintsev assisted on a pair of goals for the Petes.

In Saginaw, Damien Giroux scored at 4:23 of overtime to help the Saginaw Spirit to a 5-4 win over the Sarnia Sting. Cole Perfetti assisted on three Saginaw goals. Ryan McGregor paced Sarnia with a goal and two assists.

In Windsor, shootout goals by Egor Afanasyev and Daniel D’Amico were the difference as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Mississauga Steelheads 5-4. Windsor goaltender Xavier Medina made 33 saves and stopped both Mississauga shooters in the shootout. Cole Schwindt had two goals and an assist for the Steelheads.