Complete effort paces Greyhounds to road win

A complete game helped the Soo Greyhounds continue its winning ways on Thursday night.

The Greyhounds had 11 players register at least a point in a 6-1 road win over the North Bay Battalion in Ontario Hockey League action at the North Bay Memorial Gardens Thursday.

“We were really good through all four lines and all six defencemen from the goaltending out,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister.

“Our start in the first period and the way we took away their time and space whether it was in the offensive zone when they had the puck or just the way we tracked back, we spent no time in the defensive zone,” Bannister said when asked what pleased him most.

Rookie netminder Matthew Villalta made 19 saves for the Greyhounds to pick up his seventh win of the season.

“He had to make a couple of saves in the second and the third but nothing too taxing on him,” Bannister said. “He did a good job. He controlled his rebounds really well and killed pucks when we were a little bit tired out there.”

Bannister said the plan if for Joseph Raaymakers to start Friday night as the road trip continues in Mississauga against the Steelheads.

Boris Katchouk paced the Greyhounds with a pair of goals and an assist. Bobby MacIntyre and Tim Gettinger chipped in with a goal and an assist while Morgan Frost and Colton White had two assists each. Zach Senyshyn and Jack Kopacka also scored.

“That was one of our bigger issues was having everybody rolling the first four to six weeks of the season,” Bannister said. “Over the last four weeks here it’s been coming. From our back-end to our four lines, we played well and everybody contributed. Usually when you do that, guys get rewarded.”

Steve Harland had the lone goal for the Battalion.

Mat Woroniuk got the start for North Bay and made 24 saves on 29 shots before leaving the game with just over two minutes left in regulation time due to injury. Brent Moran came in and gave up a goal on the only shot he faced in the final 2:21 of the contest.

“We just got badly outplayed today,” North Bay Coach Stan Butler told BayToday. “They were just a better team than us.”

“We were chasing all game,” Butler added. “They had good puck possession and we didn’t manage the puck very well. We gave it to them and we were like a dog chasing a bone all night.”

North Bay drops to 12-10-2-0.

The Greyhounds improve to 11-2-0-0 on the road and 16-7-1-0 overall. The Greyhounds have now won five straight and eight of its last ten games. With the win, the Greyhounds also keep pace with the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL’s West Division. The two teams remain tied atop the standings as the Spitfires picked up an overtime victory in Peterborough.

The Greyhounds scored a pair of power play goals in three attempts while also killing off all three North Bay power plays, which included a match penalty for slew-footing to Zach Senyshyn in the second period.

“Our specialty teams were good,” Bannister said. “Our penalty kill was outstanding.”

Bannister said he didn’t feel the Senyshyn play was a slew-foot but understood the call being made.

“I can see how the refs in real time looked at it as a slew foot,” Bannister said.

Bannister would also say that, although all major penalties are reviewed by the league, the team did send in tape of the play to the league office. The match penalty comes with an automatic two-game suspension but can be rescinded after a review by the league.

After Friday night’s game in Mississauga, the Greyhounds have an off-day on Saturday before wrapping up the road trip on Sunday afternoon in Oshawa against the Generals.

*****

OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Ivan Lodnia had a goal and two assists as the Erie Otters beat the Sudbury Wolves 5-2. Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Maksimovich had a goal and an assist each. Kyle Pettit assisted on two goals. T.J. Fergus had the other Erie goal. Macauley Carson had a goal and an assist for Sudbury. Darian Pilon had the other Sudbury goal. Goaltender Zack Bowman stopped 34 shots for the Wolves.

In Peterborough, Austin McEneny scored at 3:05 of overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 5-4 win over the Peterborough Petes. Cole Carter, Julius Nattinen, Cole Purboo and Graham Knott also scored for Windsor. Logan Stanley and Aaron Luchuk assisted on a pair of goals each for Windsor. Matt Spencer had a goal and an assist while Adam Timleck, Matyas Svoboda and Zach Gallant also scored for Peterborough. Steven Lorentz and Matthew Timms assisted on two goals each for Peterborough. Dylan Wells made 38 saves for the Petes.

In Barrie. Justin Murray’s goal at 13:33 of the opening period was the game-winner as the Barrie Colts beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-5. Anthony Stefano had a goal and two assists for the Colts. Murray and Ben Hawerchuk had a goal and an assist each for Barrie. Jason Willms and Lucas Chiodo also scored for the Colts. Kade Landry assisted on three Barrie goals. Cordell James added two assists. Michael Cramarossa scored twice for Hamilton who fell behind 6-0 in the opening 14 minutes of the game. Jack Hanley assisted on three goals. Trent Foix, Matthew Strome and Adam Laishram also scored for Hamilton. Cole Candella assisted on two Bulldogs goals.

*****

AROUND THE OHL

In news around the league, the Windsor Spitfires have placed 19-year-old forward Mike Baird on waivers, per the Windsor Star.

Baird was acquired by the Spitfires in the summer from the North Bay Battalion in exchange for a fourth round draft pick in 2017. Baird had one goal and three points in 18 games with the Spitfires.

The Erie Otters got some great news this week as forward Dylan Strome was returned to the team by the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. The 19-year-old made his season debut with the Otters against Sudbury on Thursday night. He picked up a goal and an assist and won 12 of 14 faceoffs in the Otters 5-2 win over the Wolves.

The Mississauga Steelheads, who some had as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, will get a boost on Friday night against the Greyhounds. Defenceman Vili Saarijarvi has been cleared to play and will suit up for the Steelheads this weekend.

A draft pick of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, Saarijarvi had wrist surgery over the summer. He rejoins the Steelheads in the midst of a four-game losing skid heading into action on Friday night.