Greyhounds take down Majors

The Soo Greyhounds opened a lengthy three-game road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors on Thursday night.

With an off day Friday, the Hounds will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania for a game against the Otters on Saturday night before returning to the Greater Toronto Area for a Sunday afternoon game against the Brampton Battalion.

Against the Majors, the Hounds scored a goal in each period and held a 2-0 lead after the second.

Jiri Tlusty opened the scoring 4:03 into the game on the power play before Dustin Jeffrey notched his 28th of the season with the man advantage 30 seconds into the second period.

Rob Kwiet pulled the Majors within a goal on the power play 1:35 into the third period but Brett Halstead salted away the victory with his first goal of the season at 7:13.

Tlusty and Jeffrey each picked up an assist while Josh Godfrey set up a pair on the power play.

Goaltender Kyle Gajewski kicked aside 35 of 36 shots for the win while the Hounds fired 47 shots on goal, including 27 in the third period alone.

With the win, the Hounds improve to 27-20-0-5 for 59 points, move to within one point of the struggling Sarnia Sting for sixth place and sit three points out of fourth spot in the Ontario Hockey League's western conference. The locals also hold a game in hand on the Sting.

*** GAME SUMMARY:

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3 at Toronto St. Michael's Majors 1

1st Period

Scoring

1. Sault Ste. Marie, J. Tlusty (11) (M. Quesnele, J. Godfrey) 4:03 PP

Penalties - T. Cuthbert Ssm (interference) 0:21, B. Good Ssm (high sticking) 0:31, M. Piva Tor (hooking) 3:22, K. Daugavins Tor (holding) 5:48, B. Biggers Ssm (high sticking) 11:21, K. Grundmanis Tor (cross checking) 13:39, A. Campbell Ssm (roughing) 17:33, J. Messier Tor (tripping) 19:25

2nd Period

Scoring

2. Sault Ste. Marie, D. Jeffrey (28) (J. Tlusty, J. Godfrey) 0:30 PP

Penalties - M. Lyall Ssm (high sticking) 2:06, C. MacKinnon Ssm (high sticking) 7:07, Served by . Ssm (too many men) 19:55

3rd Period

Scoring

3. Toronto, R. Kwiet (5) (J. Barletta, M. Piva) 1:35 PP 4. Sault Ste. Marie, B. Halstead (1) (D. Jeffrey) 7:13

Penalties - M. Piva Tor (roughing) 5:04, T. Billingsley Tor (checking from behind) 7:39, B. Biggers Ssm (interference) 11:18, M. Caria Tor (slashing) 16:42, W. Savage Tor (delay of game) 18:34

SSM Shots: 11 9 27 TOTAL: 47 TOR Shots: 13 13 10 TOTAL: 36

Power Play Conversion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2-8. Toronto St. Michael's Majors 1-8.

Goaltenders Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Gajewski 23-16-0-2 Min: 60:00 SV: 35 GA: 1 [W]

Toronto St. Michael's Majors Savage 11-27-1-1 Min: 60:00 SV: 44 GA: 3 [L]

Start : 7:35 PM End : 9:44 PM Attendance : 711

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