Greyhounds ride early goals, timely saves to win over Petes (video)

Special teams and solid goaltender were key factors as the Soo Greyhounds opened up a three-game road trip on Thursday night.

A shorthanded goal early and a power play goal midway through the opening period helped the Greyhounds to a 2-1 Ontario Hockey League win over the Peterborough Petes on Thursday at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

For a team struggling to start well, getting two early goals in the game was huge for the Greyhounds.

“In terms of results, it was a pretty good start,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “Starts have been an issue for us so to watch our guys bury the two chances that we got; it was really big for us to build on that.”

Add to the early goals a strong performance from rookie goaltender Nick Malik and it was a recipe for success as he made 37 saves in the win.

“He was fantastic,” Dean said of Malik.

“I really like the way he fights through traffic,” Dean added. “Peterborough did a really good job of getting bodies to the net. (Malik) just never quits on pucks. He really fights through traffic and fights to get his sightlines. When you see your goaltender battling like that, it’s easy for the players to jump on board as well.”

“He was lights out,” added defenceman Jacob LeGuerrier. “He was dialed in. He made a lot of big saves for us. It would have been a different game without him.”

The Greyhounds capitalized early with a shorthanded chance after the team was hit with a too many men penalty 2:07 into the contest.

Zack Trott forced a turnover deep in the Peterborough zone by Petes defenceman Declan Chisholm and hit Tye Kartye in the slot, who proceeded to beat goaltender Hunter Jones to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead just over three minutes in.

“It was huge for us,” forward Cole MacKay said of the early goal. “The penalty kill as a whole was huge for us.”

Trott then proceeded to extend the Greyhounds lead on the power play five minutes later.

The veteran forward took a feed from defenceman Billy Constantinou in the left circle, beat Petes defenceman Hudson Wilson before beating Jones glove side to make it 2-0.

Peterborough would get on the board late in the second period when Nick Robertson scored on the power play with 2:17 to go in the frame but the Petes couldn’t find the equalizer.

For the Greyhounds, it was a tough lead to hold against a Petes team that doesn’t make life easy on their opponents.

“They’re a team that can wear you down over the course of 60 minutes,” Dean said. “I was really happy with our third period. I would have liked to see us build a little better in the second but in the third, we had a couple shifts in our end when their big line was out there. We bent but didn’t break.”

Dean also credited the play of forward Kalvyn Watson, who is from Peterborough, specifically for a hit he threw in the second period on Petes defenceman Jack York and the spark it helped provide.

“He throws a big hit, he’s not the biggest of players, gets into a fight, and created opportunities for other players on the ice,” Dean said. “Don’t think for a second that our guys didn’t rally around what he did there.”

The win improves the Greyhounds record to 22-23-2-0 as the team continues to battle for a playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference heading into action on Friday night in Kingston against the Frontenacs.

The team now sits two points behind the Erie Otters for eighth in the conference though the Otters hold two games in hand on the Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds also sit four points behind the seventh-seeded Owen Sound Attack and five points behind the sixth-seeded Guelph Storm.

The Petes have lost four straight games, and seven of their last 10. Peterborough’s record falls to 28-17-2-1.

In other action around the OHL on Thursday night, in St. Catharines, Noel Hoefenmayer’s goal just under eight minutes into the third period was the eventual game-winner as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Niagara IceDogs 3-2. Hoefenmayer and Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist each for the 67’s. Niagara goaltender Christian Sbaraglia made 42 saves.

In North Bay, Fedor Gordeev and Keegan Stevenson scored in the latter half of the third period to lift the Guelph Storm to a 4-3 win over the North Bay Battalion. Eric Uba had a goal and an assist for the Storm while Cam Hillis and Pavel Gogolev assisted on two goals each. Luke Moncada had a pair of goals for North Bay.

In Windsor, Ty Dellandrea had two goals and an assist as the Flint Firebirds beat the Windsor Spitfires 8-3. Jack Wismer chipped in with a pair of goals for Flint.

In Barrie, Quinton Byfield scored 31 seconds into overtime as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Barrie Colts 3-2. Byfield had a pair of goals for the Wolves. Barrie goaltender Arturs Silovs made 38 saves.