Greyhounds, Firebirds set for game three

Monday will be a quiet night with just three games on the Ontario Hockey League playoff schedule, all in the Western Conference.

With the series tied at one game apiece, the Flint Firebirds will host the Soo Greyhounds at the Dort Federal Event Center in a 7 p.m. start.

The Greyhounds enter the game looking to rebound from a disappointing 6-3 loss in game two on Saturday night at the Essar Centre.

“We weren’t very good at all,” Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said of Saturday’s loss, saying also that “it was as bad as we’ve played in a long time.”

As far as what needs to change for the Greyhounds for Monday’s game three, the message is quite simple.

“From our goaltending on out, we have to be better,” Bannister said.

Bannister said following Saturday’s game he expected to make a decision on who will start in goal prior to Monday’s morning skate.

Flint Coach Ryan Oulahen spoke following game one of the need for his top players to be better and they were in game two. Ryan Moore, who led the team in scoring in the regular season, had a goal and an assist. Kole Sherwood, who finished second in scoring, also had a goal.

“You can’t hide the fact that out best guys have to be our best guys,” Oulahen said. “You have to have secondary guys jumping in and out of our third and fourth lines, we got some really good minutes and those guys were doing things. They were getting some offensive zone time and they were creating energy.”

The Firebirds could be without Moore for the foreseeable future after the veteran forward was given a game misconduct for something said to Greyhounds forward Bobby MacIntyre late in the third period of game two. Moore was assessed a game misconduct under rule 23.6, which includes racial taunts or slurs and includes homophobic slurs. According to Bannister, Moore was overheard by officials, which resulted in the penalty.

Monday’s other games around the OHL will see the Kitchener Rangers host the Owen Sound Attack while the Sarnia Sting will host the Erie Otters.

After a convincing game one victory, the Attack dropped a 2-1 decision in game two against the Rangers on Saturday while the Otters will look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in Sarnia. Erie has outscored Sarnia 15-6 in two games.

Sunday saw eight teams in action, which included one Western Conference matchup.

The rivalry has been one that was always heated but the Windsor Spitfires and London Knights have renewed that rivalry in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs this season.

After the Spitfires opened the series on Friday night with an overtime victory in London on a goal by Jeremiah Addison, the Knights rebounded for a 5-2 win on Sunday to even the series at one game apiece.

Sunday’s matinee game wasn’t without its share of battles. The game saw a pair of fights, seven seconds apart, in the opening period. Addison was tossed from the game in the second period for a cross check on London forward Max Jones, who scored a pair of late empty net goals to seal the London victory. Among the major penalties handed out, the game featured plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving throughout the day.

Windsor Coach Rocky Thompson was extremely critical of the officiating in the contest, calling it into question.

“Every time there was the slightest amount of contact with the London Knights, they dove and they got rewarded for it,” Thompson told the London Free Press. “They made the refs look foolish and a national audience saw it.

“You should have to earn what you get, not have to act and be rewarded as a result of it.”

The game was broadcast nationally by Sportsnet.

Cliff Pu had a goal and an assist for the Knights while Janne Kuokkanen assisted on a pair of goals. Mitchell Stephens and Olli Juolevi also scored. Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist for the Spitfires. Aaron Luchuk had the other Windsor goal.

In Kingston, the Hamilton Bulldogs took a 2-0 series lead over the Kingston Frontenacs thanks to a 5-4 victory on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs scored five times in the second period en route to the win. Niki Petti paced the Bulldogs with a pair of goals while Matt Luff had a goal and an assist. Marian Studenic and Connor Roberts had the other goals for Hamilton. Matthew Strome assisted on two Bulldogs goals. Nathan Dunkley and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist each for Kingston. Linus Nyman and Stephen Desrocher also scored for Kingston. Eemeli Rasanen assisted on two goals for the Frontenacs.

In Mississauga, the Ottawa 67’s rebounded from a game one loss to blank the Mississauga Steelheads 4-0. Leo Lazarev made 31 saves for the shutout. Mathieu Foget and Tye Felhaber had a goal and an assist each for the 67’s. Sasha Chmelevski and Travis Barron also scored for Ottawa. Rookie goaltender Jacob Ingham made 20 saves for the Steelheads.

In Oshawa, the Oshawa Generals got a pair of goals from Jack Studnicka to beat the Sudbury Wolves 5-1 and even their best-of-seven series at one game apiece. Kyle McLean, Matt Brassard and Mason Kohn also scored for the Generals while goaltender Jeremy Brodeur made 34 saves, including 20 in the third period. Domenic Commisso assisted on two goals for Oshawa. Dmitry Sokolov had the lone goal for Sudbury.