Greyhounds set for familiar setting

What was a chance to advance for the Soo Greyhounds now comes down to a one-game, winner-take-all seventh game at the Essar Centre on Monday night.

Kole Sherwood scored at 13:12 of overtime to give the Kitchener Rangers a 4-3 win over the Greyhounds and help his team avoid elimination in the process.

Sherwood beat Greyhounds netminder Matthew Villalta on a play that saw the puck squirt into the slot after hitting the skate of Rangers forward Givani Smith to the right of the goal.

“We played a great game,” said Greyhounds forward Boris Katchouk. “They got a lucky bounce at the end.”

“It’s disappointing to lose that hockey game,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister. “We played really well. We did a lot of good things today.”

The game got to overtime after Taylor Raddysh scored a pair of goals in the final five minutes of regulation time

“We were playing well up to that point,” Bannister said. “We kept pushing and got a quick goal after they made it 3-1. Then we got an opportunity at the end of (regulation) where we got a power play and get six guys out. We did a good job winning the draw and then made a really good play to score the goal (to tie the game). Our guys competed hard.”

With the game tied through 40 minutes, the Rangers scored a pair of goals to take the lead in the final period before Raddysh would help the Greyhounds force the extra frame.

“We put ourselves in a position we wanted to be in with a two-goal lead,” said Rangers Coach Jay McKee. “We’re fully aware that they have great firepower and is a team that has the ability to come back. We wanted to be tight, but we loosened up a little bit in the defensive zone.”

Rangers goaltender Mario Culina made 45 saves.

“He played good for them. He made some key saves and he won them the game today,” Katchouk said.

“The one thing we didn’t do was capitalize on our chances,” Bannister said. 

Raddysh spoke of the Greyhounds ability to take the play to the Rangers for much of the game. 

“We controlled the game for the most part,” Raddysh said. “In the second period we lost some gas but got back in the third.”

Smith and Joseph Garreffa finished the day with a goal and two assists each for the Rangers. Adam Mascherin had the other Rangers goal.

Mac Hollowell had the other goal for the Greyhounds while Villalta made 34 saves.

The Rangers victory forces a short turnaround for both clubs with game seven on Monday night at the Essar Centre. Puck drop will be 7:07 p.m.

For the Greyhounds, the team will draw on the experience of going through a game seven in round two against the Owen Sound Attack. 

“It was nice to go through it and experience it as a team,” Bannister said. “We learned some things from that game and obviously learned a lot from that series. Owen Sound made us a better team. A lot of the same goes for Kitchener. They’ve made it tough on us.”

McKee said Monday’s series finale has the makings of what could be an exciting game.

“It could come down to bounces, obviously the intensity is going to be very high,” McKee said. “It’s a moment that these players all want to play for. That’s why you play the game. It’s an opportunity for us to go into their arena and spoil what has been an exceptional season for them.”