Greyhounds gun down Spitfires

The last time the Soo Greyhounds were in a playoff series was in 2003 when they were swept by the Kitchener Rangers.

In fact, the Greyhounds have not won a playoff series since defeating the Erie Otters in the 2000 Western Conference semi-finals before falling to the Plymouth Whalers in the Western Conference final.

With that in mind, the Greyhounds took a step towards winning their first playoff series in five years on Friday night.

The Greyhounds jumped out to an early lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Windsor Spitfires on Friday evening at Memorial Gardens, sending a crowd of over 3,900 people home happy.

The Hounds used a first period goal by rookie Ryan McInerney and some key saves by rookie goaltender Kyle Gajewski to fuel a 5-0 victory over the Spitfires.

In the opening period, the Hounds outplayed the Spitfires early on, outshooting the visitors 7-1 through the game's first five minutes and took the lead when McInerney followed up a rebound of his own initial shot, converting the second attempt past Brad Topping in the Windsor goal at 9:52.

The Hounds wasted little time taking a 2-0 lead in the second period as Blair Jarrett scored 42 second into the period. Chris Lawrence gave the Hounds a three goal cushion when he knocked a rebound past Topping at 3:03 on the power play.

Third period goals by Tyler Kennedy at 1:27 and Brody Todd at 13:51 sealed the 5-0 victory for the Hounds.

Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg commented following the victory that there were still some mistakes made that his club needs to correct before game two on Saturday.

"We learned from our mistakes tonight and we will be better (on Saturday), Hartsburg said. "I think (we) can be better. We're going to have to be better. The old cliché is taking it one day at a time, one game at a time, one shift at a time."

Discipline problems were one thing Hartsburg hoped would be corrected for Saturday, as the Hounds found themselves in penalty trouble, giving the Spitfires chances to get back into the game, including a 5-on-3 advantage early in the second period that lasted 1:13.

Hartsburg was pleased with the goaltending of Kyle Gajewski, who was named the second star in the game after stopping 37 shots for his first playoff shutout. Hartsburg commented that he was pleased with the fact that when needed, Gajewski came up with important saves.

Neither team has a lot of time to rest and recover from Friday's game as game two is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Gardens. The series will then shift to Windsor for games three and four on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

*** AROUND THE O:

* In Mississauga, the Toronto St. Michael's Majors upset the IceDogs 3-1 in game one of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. A pair of first period goals by Justin Donati and Colin Power was the difference for the Majors. Justin Peters stopped 26 shots for the victory.

* One night after scoring a 3-2 overtime victory, the Sudbury Wolves skated away with a 4-1 victory over the Brampton Battalion to take a 2-0 series lead over the Battalion. Kevin Baker and Zack Stortini each had a goal and an assist in the game two win. Benoit Pouliot added a pair of assists for the Wolves.

* A goal by David Bolland 1:54 into the second period was the difference as the London Knights took a 2-0 series lead over the Guelph Storm. Drew Larman scored the other London goal while Gerald Coleman found himself having to only face 14 shots, stopping 13 for the victory.

* Jeff Kryzakos' goal at 18:35 of the first period was the game's only goal as the Owen Sound Attack scored a 1-0 victory over the Plymouth Whalers to take a 1-0 series lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal. Mike Brown stopped 21 shots for the shutout while Ryan Nie stopped 33 shots in the loss.

* In double overtime, David Herring was the hero for the Erie Otters as they won a 2-1 decision over the Kitchener Rangers in the second longest game in Otters history. Andrew Shennan scored the other Erie goal while Evan McGrath scored the lone Rangers goal. Both goaltenders were busy as Josh Disher picked up the win and Dan Turple the loss. Both goaltenders stopped 55 shots in the game.

*** OHL PLAYOFF SUMMARY:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. MISSISSAUGA vs. 8. TORONTO

(Toronto leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Toronto 3 Mississauga 1 Game 2 - Sun. March 27 at Toronto 2:00 Game 3 - Tues. March 29 at Mississauga 7:00 Game 4 - Thurs. March 31 at Toronto 7:30 Game 5 - Sun. April 3 at Mississauga 2:00 * Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Toronto 7:30 * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Mississauga 7:00 *

2. PETERBOROUGH vs. 7. BELLEVILLE

(Peterborough leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Peterborough 5 Belleville 0 Game 2 - Sat. March 26 at Belleville 7:15 Game 3 - Sun. March 27 at Peterborough 7:00 Game 4 - Tues. March 29 at Belleville 7:05 Game 5 - Thurs. March 31 at Peterborough 7:00 * Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Belleville 7:05 * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Peterborough 7:00 *

3. BARRIE vs. 6. OTTAWA

(Ottawa leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Ottawa 5 Barrie 4 Game 2 - Sat. March 26 at Barrie, 7:30 p.m. Game 3 - Wed. March 30 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Game 4 - Fri. April 1 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Game 5 - Sun. April 3 at Barrie, 6:00 p.m. * Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Barrie, 7:30 p.m. *

4. BRAMPTON vs. 5. SUDBURY

(Sudbury leads series 2-0)

Game 1 - Sudbury 3 Brampton 2 (OT) Game 2 - Sudbury 4 Brampton 1 Game 3 - Sun. March 27 at Brampton 2:00 Game 4 - Wed. March 30 at Sudbury 7:30 Game 5 - Fri. April 1 at Brampton 7:30 * Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Sudbury 7:30 * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Brampton 7:30 *

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

1. LONDON vs. 8. GUELPH

(London leads series 2-0)

Game 1 - London 3 Guelph 2 Game 2 - London 2 Guelph 1 Game 3 - Mon. March 28 at London, 7:00 Game 4 - Tues. March 29 at Guelph, 7:00 Game 5 - Thurs. March 31 at London, 7:00 * Game 6 - Fri. April 1 at Guelph, 7:30 * Game 7 - Mon. April 4 at London, 7:00 *

2. SOO GREYHOUNDS vs. 7. WINDSOR

(Soo leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Soo 5 Windsor 0 Game 2 - Sat. March 26 at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:30 Game 3 - Wed. March 30 at Windsor, 7:30 Game 4 - Thurs. March 31 at Windsor, 7:30 Game 5 - Sat. April 2 at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:30 * Game 6 - Sun. April 3 at Windsor, 6:00 * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:00 *

3. OWEN SOUND vs. 6. PLYMOUTH

(Owen Sound leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Owen Sound 1 Plymouth 0 Game 2 - Sat. March 26 at Plymouth, 7:30 Game 3 - Tues. March 29 at Owen Sound, 7:00 Game 4 - Thurs. March 31 at Plymouth, 7:30 Game 5 - Sat. April 2 at Owen Sound, 7:30 * Game 6 - Sun. April 3 at Plymouth, 6:00 * Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Owen Sound, 7:00 *

4. KITCHENER vs. 5. ERIE

(Erie leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Erie 2 Kitchener 1 (2OT) Game 2 - Sat. March 26 at Erie, 7:30 Game 3 - Mon. March 28 at Kitchener, 7:00 Game 4 - Wed. March 30 at Erie, 7:30 Game 5 - Fri. April 1 at Kitchener, 7:30 * Game 6 - Sat. April 2 at Erie, 7:30 * Game 7 - Mon. April 4 at Kitchener, 7:00 *

(* if necessary)

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