Greyhounds struggle to open final road trip

It was the third meeting in 12 days between the two clubs and a potential playoff preview.

A pair of third period goals were the difference as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Soo Greyhounds 3-2 in Ontario Hockey League action at the WFCU Centre in Windsor on Thursday night.

It was a game that the Greyhounds will look to rebound from as the trip continues on Friday.

“We just weren’t good from the start,” said Greyhounds captain Tim Gettinger. 

“It’s unacceptable to have lapses like that,” Gettinger also said.

A goal by Curtis Douglas 6:14 into the third period broke a 1-1 tie while an empty-net goal by Daniel D’Amico was the eventual game-winner with 1:11 to go in regulation time. 

Gettinger scored with 44 seconds to go in regulation to make the game close, but the Greyhounds couldn’t find the equalizer.

“We didn’t play well, and we didn’t move our feet and it cost us in the long run,” Gettinger said. “When you’re not moving your feet, you’re not going to get a lot of chances.”

Ryan Roth had the other goal for the Greyhounds.

Spitfires goaltender Michael DiPietro made 26 saves for the Spitfires.

“We didn’t create many scoring chances for ourselves,” Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said. “We were second to pucks in the offensive zone and we weren’t moving our feet in the offensive zone to get there and create any battles and the battles that were in the offensive zone, we usually lost them.”

Tyler Johnson made 18 saves for the Greyhounds.

“He had to make some saves in the third when we pushed,” Bannister said. 

Igor Larionov had a goal and an assist for the Spitfires while Luke Boka set up a pair of goals.

The game marked the return to the lineup for veteran blueliner Conor Timmins, who had been out of the Greyhounds lineup since mid-January due to an injury.

“It was what we expected,” Bannister said. “He was a step behind and his feet weren’t where we would expect them to be but that’s just timing. He’ll get that back and get back to himself.”

The road trip continues for the Greyhounds on Friday night in Kitchener against the Rangers before the trip wraps up on Sunday afternoon in Owen Sound against the Attack.

In other action around the OHL on Thursday night, in St. Catharines, Matthew Philip had two goals and an assist as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Flint Firebirds 8-2. Kirill Maksimov set up three goals for the IceDogs.

In North Bay, goaltender David Bowen made 36 saves as the Sudbury Wolves beat the North Bay Battalion 4-2. Dawson Baker had a pair of goals for the Wolves. Adam Thilander scored twice for North Bay.

In Peterborough, Trent Fox had three goals and an assist as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Peterborough Petes 8-7. Ryan McLeod had two goals and two assists. Michael McLeod assisted on three goals for Mississauga. Nikita Korostelev had three goals and two assists for the Petes.

In Barrie, Markus Phillips scored at 1:49 of overtime as the Owen Sound Attack beat the Barrie Colts 6-5. Phillips had two goals and an assist while Ethan Szypula chipped in with a goal and three assists for Owen Sound. Dmitry Sokolov had two goals and two assists while Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist for Barrie.