Greyhounds outshoot Firebirds, move into first-place tie (video, 10 photos)

The Soo Greyhounds and Flint Firebirds continue to battle for top spot in the Ontario Hockey League’s West Division and it was fitting on Wednesday night that the two teams needed a shootout in their latest meeting.

Shootout goals by Rory Kerins and Cole MacKay were the difference as the Greyhounds edged out a 2-1 victory over the Firebirds at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

The lone shooters to face Flint goaltender Luke Cavallin, Kerins and MacKay beat the veteran netminder 5-hole on their respective shootout attempts to give the Greyhounds the much-needed win.

Greyhounds coach John Dean said the shot selection for shooters is left up to the players.

“We leave it to the kids,” Dean said of the shootout. “There are pre-scouts on the goalie before every game, but for the players, we just ask that they make sure that make a decision to make a move and they stick to it and they make it with confidence.”

“Kerinsy set the tone for Cole,” Dean said. “I thought Cole was going to come down and do the exact same thing, but he didn’t quite. That’s a heck of a move he made to do the little pump-fake first and then shoot it. It was very impressive from both players.”

With the result leaving the two clubs tied atop the West standings, MacKay said the game had a playoff atmosphere to it.

“It definitely had that playoff feel,” MacKay said. “It’s for top spot in our division. Anytime you have an opportunity like that, you don’t take it lightly. It’s good preparation for us. We think we can go on a long playoff run and a game like this is nice. It definitely had that playoff intensity.”

Dean liked the start to the game for the Greyhounds in addition to finishing the third period well.

“I loved our first period,” Dean said. “We came out really hard. We generated some chances. We were pretty good in our D zone for the most part and played with a lot of energy.”

Dean added that he felt the second period “left a little bit to be desired.”

“There were run-and-gun chances both ways,” Dean said. “We were choosing to get rid of pucks instead of trying to make plays.”

“In the third, they transitioned very well on us, but I liked our second half of the third period,” Dean added.

Flint coach Ted Dent called the game “a good point on the road.”

“I liked our commitment away from the puck even though we gave up some chances,” Dent said. “We can play faster. We’ve played faster. (The Greyhounds) have probably played faster. I didn’t think it was a fast game at ice level.”

After a scoreless opening period, Brennan Othmann got Flint on the board first, scoring his 32^nd goal of the season at 5:23 of the second period.

Othmann beat Greyhounds starter Tucker Tynan with a sharp-angle shot from the right side.

Flint held onto the lead until late in the third period when Rory Kerins tied the game for the Greyhounds.

With 4:51 to go in regulation time, MacKay hit a Flint player along the side boards, leading to a turnover to Tyler Savard. Savard got the puck to MacKay who tried to deke Flint goaltender Luke Cavallin in close but was stopped. Rory Kerins scored on the rebound to tie the game at one.

Dean said the goal gave the bench some added energy.

“It did look like our guys were thinking ‘Who’s going to do it?’ Like they were waiting for someone else to step up,” Dean said.

“It was huge energy for the bench,” Dean added. “It’s tough when you haven’t scored a goal. We thought we generated enough chances to get one behind him. I’m not saying we peppered him with Grade A’s, but there was opportunity there.”

After Flint’s Simon Slavicek was stopped by Tynan with the Firebirds first shootout attempt, Kerins sped in on Cavallin, beating him 5-hole to put the Greyhounds ahead.

An unsuccessful attempt by Amadeus Lombardi led to MacKay’s shootout attempt, which sealed the win for the Greyhounds.

MacKay said he knew how he planned to approach his attempt in the shootout.

“It’s a move that I do a bunch in practice and I felt confident with and I just stuck to it,” MacKay said.

Cavallin made 43 saves for the Firebirds while Tynan stopped 35 shots and both Flint shooters in the shootout for the Greyhounds.

“Tucker was incredible in the shootout and he made some really big saves in the third period,” Dean said. “They’re very good off the rush and had lots of opportunities. His positioning tonight really limited what looked like really good opportunities and he made some of them look easy.”

With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 26-14-4-1 while Flint falls to 27-14-0-3 with the loss.

Already without Tanner Dickinson due to injury up front, the Greyhounds also played Wednesday’s contest minus overage forward Tye Kartye, who was suspended by the OHL for four games following a hit on the weekend.

Kartye, who sits second in the OHL in goals with 32 and first in power play goals with 17, was penalized late in Saturday’s game against the Sarnia Sting for checking to the head after a hit on rookie forward Angus MacDonell.

Defenceman Ryan O’Rourke missed Wednesday’s game as well due to injury.

Saying the veteran blueliner was out with an upper-body injury, Dean said O’Rourke will travel with the team this weekend, but he remains out day-to-day.

The Greyhounds return to action this weekend with a pair of road games, beginning on Friday night against the London Knights.

The team then heads to Owen Sound for a Saturday night matchup with the Attack.