Greyhounds power play provides lift in win

24 hours after special teams was the difference in a loss to a division rival, the Soo Greyhounds used the power play to its advantage on the road in picking up a win against another division rival on Saturday night.

The Greyhounds scored three power play goals in a 7-0 win over the Flint Firebirds on Saturday night at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint.

“Our power play was much better tonight,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister. “We had a lot of good looks on both units and it was good to see them have some success and hopefully that builds some confidence going forward.”

Tyler Johnson made 34 saves for the Greyhounds in his first OHL shutout.

“I just tried to take it as another game and help the guys win,” Johnson said. “They blocked a lot of shots and had a lot of good breakouts and that helped me out a lot.”

“Tyler was forced to make some saves and he played very well,” Bannister said. “He made things look pretty easy tonight.”

Johnson called the adjustment to his new team “great” since coming over in a trade with the London Knights on Oct. 17 in a deal that sent netminder Joseph Raaymakers to the Knights.

Some veterans had big nights offensively for the Greyhounds, including defenceman Conor Timmins, who assisted on five goals. Timmins would say Friday’s loss in Sarnia provided some added motivation heading into Flint.

“We pride ourselves on not losing two games in a row and we wanted to have a good bounce-back game tonight,” Timmins said. “We started really fast and got (Flint) on their heels early and the rest of the game went as planned.”

Sophomore forward Barrett Hayton, who missed Friday’s loss in Sarnia due to injury, returned to the lineup and scored a pair of goals for the Greyhounds.

Morgan Frost had a pair of goals and assisted on another for the Greyhounds. Jack Kopacka had a goal and an assist while Tim Gettinger and Boris Katchouk also scored for the Greyhounds. Katchouk now has 14 goals in 15 games this season.

“We did a lot of good things with the puck,” Bannister said.

Garrett Forrest got the start for the Firebirds but was pulled after surrendering three goals on 15 shots, the third of which came early in the second period. Rookie Luke Cavallin came in and stopped 14 of 18 shots the rest of the way.

In other action around the OHL on Saturday, Sasha Chmelevski had three goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Saginaw Spirit 11-3 in Ottawa. Tye Felhaber assisted on four goals for the 67’s while Carter Robertson chipped in with a goal and two assists. Mathieu Foget also had a pair of goals for the 67’s.

In Hamilton, Max Jones had the shootout winner as the London Knights beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2. Knights goaltender Joseph Raaymakers made 29 saves and stopped all three Hamilton shooters in the shootout. Hamilton netminder Kaden Fulcher made 34 saves, while stopping two of three London shooters in the shootout.

In Erie, Kyle Maksimovich and Taylor Raddysh had shootout goals as the Erie Otters beat the Guelph Storm 5-4. Alex Gritz had a pair of goals for Erie in regulation time. Cam Hillis had two goals and two assists for the Storm.

In St. Catharines, Michael Pezzetta scored three times as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Niagara IceDogs 5-2. Troy Lajeunesse chipped in with a goal and two assists while goaltender Jake McGrath made 39 saves for the Wolves.

In Barrie, Shaw Boomhower’s goal at 1:52 of the second period was the game-winner as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Barrie Colts 4-2.

In Owen Sound, Zachary Roberts’ goal at 5:46 of the third period was the game-winner as the Owen Sound Attack scored three unanswered goals in a 3-2 win over the North Bay Battalion. Justin Brazeau had both goals for the Battalion.