Greyhounds suffer rare road defeat

A 10-game winning streak came to an end for the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday night.

On the road, the Greyhounds dropped a 3-2 decision to the Erie Otters at Erie Insurance Arena Saturday in the second game of a three-game homestand.

Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said capitalizing on scoring chances was an issue, citing the lack of shots on some odd-man rushes as well as a number of posts hit by the team in the contest.

“We had some really good scoring chances but we just didn’t execute on any of them,” Bannister said.

Erie scored a pair of goals in five power play opportunities.

“You can’t be taking penalties against a team with that power play they have,” said Greyhounds forward Jack Kopacka, who had a pair of goals.

Bannister would add that he wasn’t pleased with the penalties the team took in the game.

Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers made 29 saves.

Kyle Maksimovich had a pair of goals for the Otters, including what was the eventual game-winner just over six minutes into the third period. Alex DeBrincat chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Otters. Defenceman Darren Raddysh assisted on a pair of Erie goals.

Erie goaltender Troy Timpano made 19 saves.

The Greyhounds record drops to 21-8-1-0 and the team is now one point behind the Windsor Spitfires for top spot in the OHL’s West Division after Windsor won in Sudbury on Saturday night. Saturday marks just the Greyhounds third road loss in 17 games.

The Otters record now sits at 23-3-2-0. Erie remains unbeaten in regulation time on home ice at 16-0-1-0.

The Greyhounds wrap up the three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton against the Bulldogs.

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OTHER SCORES

In Ottawa, Travis Barron scored a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Oshawa Generals 4-1. Goaltender Olivier Lafreniere stopped 31 shots. Patrick White and Jared Steege also scored for Ottawa. Joe Manchurek had the lone goal for Oshawa.

In Hamilton, Filip Hronek had the shootout winner as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3. Evan Cormier made 33 saves and stopped all three Hamilton shooters in the shootout for the Spirit. Jesse Barwell, Hayden Hodgson and D.J. Busdeker scored for the Spirit in regulation time. Will Bitten had a pair of goals for Hamilton. Connor Walters had the other Hamilton goal.

In St. Catharines, Spencer Watson’s goal 31 seconds into overtime lifted the Mississauga Steelheads to a 3-2 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Watson scored a natural hat trick in the win. Vili Saarijarvi assisted on a pair of Steelheads goals. Mississauga goaltender Matthew Mancina made 31 saves. Niagara goaltender Stephen Dhillon made 56 saves. Johnny Corneil and Akil Thomas scored for Niagara.

In Sudbury, Aaron Luchuk and Cristiano DiGiacinto had a goal and three assists each as the Windsor Spitfires blanked the Sudbury Wolves 6-0. Luke Boka and Cole Purboo added a pair of goals each. Michael DiPietro made 22 saves for the shutout. Jake McGrath made 25 saves for Sudbury.

In Sarnia, Cliff Pu scored twice as the London Knights doubled up the Sarnia Sting 4-2. Evan Bouchard and Owen MacDonald also scored for the Knights. Troy Lajeunesse and Anthony Salinitri scored for Sarnia. Sting goaltender Justin Fazio made 34 saves.

In Barrie, David Ovsjannikov made 37 saves as the Barrie Colts beat the Flint Firebirds 3-1. Zachary Magwood scored a pair of goals while Jason Willms also scored for the Colts. Nicholas Caamano had the lone goal for Flint.

In Owen Sound, Chase Campbell’s goal at 7:06 of the third period was the game-winner as the Owen Sound Attack beat the Kingston Frontenacs 2-1. Petrus Palmu had a goal and an assist for Owen Sound. Jeremy Helvig made 38 saves for the Frontenacs. Linus Nyman had the lone Kingston goal.