Greyhounds put Sting on verge of elimination (6 photos)

The team may not have been given a chance by many to advance out of the first round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs but now the Soo Greyhounds are one victory away.

A deflection by Gabe Guertler at 7:24 of the second overtime period lifted the Greyhounds to a 3-2 victory over the Sarnia Sting to give the team a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference quarter-final.

In the slot, Guertler deflected a point shot by defenceman Gustav Bouramman past Sting goaltender Charlie Graham to win a game that saw the Greyhounds need a goal midway through the third period to force the extra time.

Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister told reporters following the game he was confident the Greyhounds would pull the win out heading into the second overtime.

"I had no question in my mind (during the second overtime) that we were going to win that hockey game. The energy in the room when we walked in after the first overtime was unbelievable. I had to leave them a little but longer so they could settle down."

“That’s a character-builder,” Bannister also said. “This group continues to amaze me. I love to watch the growth of this group from Christmas-time on and now the growth they’ve gone through in the four games.”

Goaltender Brandon Halverson made 40 saves for the Greyhounds, including 10 in the first overtime period.

“Halvy was tremendous,” Bannister said.

Blake Speers chipped in with a goal and an assist while Colton White had the other goal for the Greyhounds. Bouramman and Bobby MacIntyre assisted on a pair of goals each for the Greyhounds.

“I’m proud of the way the guys played and competed,” Bannister said. “They came ready to win a hockey game. Losing wasn’t an option. You could see by the way we pushed in the third to tie the game up and we had opportunities to win it.”

Matt Mistele had a goal and an assist for Sarnia. Pavel Zacha also scored.

“I didn’t think we played badly, we had more than enough scoring chances earlier in the game and even deep in the third period and the first overtime,” Sting Coach Derian Hatcher said. “We had more than enough chances but we didn’t score.”

Sting goaltender Charlie Graham made 29 saves.

Hatcher also said the theory moving ahead for game five on Saturday night after a tough loss is simple.

"It's a tough game for both sides. We don't have a choice, we have a day to gather ourselves and get back at it, that’s the bottom line.”

“We’ll throw everything we have into game five to come back here for game six.”

Hatcher said the status of high-scoring forward Travis Konecny hasn’t been determined. He said he plans on reaching out to the Philadelphia Flyers training staff to find out more.

Puck drop on Saturday for game five is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre.

****

OTHER SCORES

Wednesday

In Owen Sound, Matthew Tkachuk scored four times and assisted on another goal at the London Knights beat the Owen Sound Attack 8-5 to take a commanding  3-1 series lead heading home. Mitchell Marner had a goal and four assists for London. Cliff Pu added a pair of goals while Robert Thomas also scored. Christian Dvorak assisted on three goals. Petrus Palmu had a goal and two assists for Owen Sound. Bryson Cianfrone had a goal and an assist for the Attack while Nick Suzuki, Josh Sterk and Kevin Hancock also scored. Ethan Szypula assisted on three goals while Santino Centorame added a pair of helpers for Owen Sound.

In Ottawa, Jordan Maletta scored 46 seconds into the second overtime period to give the Niagara IceDogs a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa 67’s. Pavel Jenys had the other Niagara goal as the IceDogs take a 3-1 series lead. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves for the IceDogs. Nathan Todd had the lone Ottawa goal.

In Windsor, Bradley Latour scored at 10:19 of overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 5-4 win over the Kitchener Rangers to force a game five. Brendan Lemieux scored three times for the Spitfires while Latour had two goals and an assist in the win. Logan Brown assisted on four goals. Mikhail Sergachev chipped in with a pair of assists. Adam Mascherin scored a pair of goals for Kitchener. Gustaf Franzen and David Miller also scored for the Rangers.

Thursday

In Mississauga, Justin Scott scored at 4:46 of overtime to give the Barrie Colts a 6-5 win over the Mississauga Steelheads. The win tied the best-of-7 series at two. Scott finished the night with four goals for Barrie. Rasmus Andersson had a goal and two assists while Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and an assist for Barrie. Kevin Labanc had three assists. Michael Webster also had a pair of assists for Barrie. Alexander Nylander had two goals and an assist while Daniel Muzito-Bagenda also scored twice for Mississauga. Michael McLeod (one goal, two assists) and Nathan Bastien (three assists) also had multi-point nights for the Steelheads.

In Oshawa, the Oshawa Generals staved off elimination with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Kingston Frontenacs. Eric Henderson scored at 3:02 of overtime for the Generals, who scored four unanswered goals in the game. Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur made 43 saves. Henderson, Anthony Cirelli and Lukas Lofquist had a goal and an assist each for the Generals. Jalen Smereck also scored. Domenic Commisso and Mitchell Vande Sompel assisted on two goals each. Jared Steege had a goal and an assist for Kingston. Michael Dal Colle and Juho Lammikko also scored for the Frontenacs.

In Saginaw, the Erie Otters capped off a four-game sweep of the Saginaw Spirit with a 6-4 victory on Thursday night. Dylan Strome paced the Otters with two goals and an assist. Taylor Raddysh and Travis Dermott added a goal and an assist each. Alex DeBrincat and Erik Cernak had two assists each. Patrick Fellows and Kyle Maksimovich had the other Erie goals. Connor Brown scored a pair of goals for Saginaw. Mitchell Stephens had a goal and an assist for the Spirit while Matthew Kreis assisted on a pair of goals. Kirill Maksimov also scored for Saginaw.

In Peterborough, Jake Smith made 29 saves as the North Bay Battalion blanked the Peterborough Petes 2-0. The win evens the best-of-7 series at two games apiece. Matthew Mancina made 32 saves for the Petes. Jacob Ball and Riley Bruce scored for the Battalion while defenceman Mark Shoemaker assisted on two goals.