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Homestand concludes with positive for Greyhounds (16 photos)

An eight-game homestand ended on Sunday afternoon for the Soo Greyhounds against the North Bay Battalion

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The finale of an eight-game homestand saw a better effort out of the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon.

After a disappointing effort in a win over the Sarnia Sting on Friday, the Greyhounds skated to a 5-2 win over the North Bay Battalion in Ontario Hockey League action at the Essar Centre.

The game helps the team keep pace in the ultra-competitive Western Conference and was an improved effort following Friday’s win.

The line of Blake Speers centering Boris Katchouk and Jack Kopacka helped pace the Greyhounds. Katchouk led the way with a pair of goals.

“In the second period they created a lot of offensive chances and created a lot of havoc,” Bannister said of the line. “They did a good job putting pressure on the puck and used their speed to their advantage.”

Kopacka added a goal and an assist. Zach Senyshyn also had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds. Rookie forward Alex Gritz had the other Greyhounds goal.

Matthew Villalta made 26 saves for the Greyhounds.

“Matthew was good,” Bannister said. “He was steady for us and that’s what you want in a game like this.”

Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers missed the game after suffering an injury in practice on Saturday. The team called it a “lower-body injury” without delving any deeper into what the injury was.

Bannister said the hope is that Raaymakers will be able to skate Tuesday and said the injury

“It’s not a serious injury that we’re worried about long-term,” Bannister said.

Brett Hargrave and Kyle Potts scored for North Bay, who falls to 22-33-3-1 and remain in a battle for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

North Bay goaltender Julian Sime made 45 saves.

“He made some good saves,” said North Bay Coach Stan Butler. “For a tiny goalie, he really gets around the rink well

Butler said he was happy with the effort of the Battalion in a game that wrapped up a three-game weekend road trip.

“Given all the injuries we’ve had, they could have lost their focus,” Butler said. “For the most part, they’ve hung in there and done the best they can. Because of that, we’ve got a chance to make the playoffs.”

Bannister felt the Greyhounds took advantage of a “tired hockey team.”

“We tired them out five-on-five,” Bannister said. “We put a lot of pressure on them. We could have taken this game easily and it could have been a close game. Our guys were pushing from the start and even when we got up we continued to be urgent.”

Bannister said he felt the Greyhounds are beginning to show better consistency and the team is “playing better hockey than we were four or five weeks ago.”

“We’re trending in the right direction here,” Bannister said.

For Bannister, the game was also an improvement defensively after Friday’s win over the Sarnia Sting in which he wasn’t pleased with the play of his defensive corps.

“A lot of guys played really well,” Bannister said. “The whole corps played well and much better than Friday. That has a lot to do with our play. When our defencemen are making decisions quick, we’re a good hockey team.”

The team will take a 41-15-2-1 record and a five-point lead on the Windsor Spitfires in the West Division standings into a crucial game in Windsor on Thursday night. The game opens a three-game road trip for the Greyhounds lost in Sarnia on Sunday afternoon to fall further back in the standings.

The road trip will also take the Greyhounds to Guelph on Friday to face the Storm and Kitchener on Sunday afternoon to take on the Rangers.

*****

OTHER SCORES

In Guelph, Sam Miletic had a pair of goals as the London Knights beat the Guelph Storm 8-1. Janne Kuokkanen chipped in with a goal and two assists while Liam Foudy, Robert Thomas, Cliff Pu, Mitchell Stephens and Dante Salituro each added a goal and an assist. J.J. Piccinich assisted on three goals for the Knights. Victor Mete also had two assists for London. James McEwan had the lone goal for Guelph.

In Kingston, Jason Robertson had three assists as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-1. Brett Neumann, Ted Nichol and Linus Nyman scored for Kingston. Matthew Strome had the lone goal for Hamilton.

In Mississauga, the game between the Mississauga Steelheads and Sudbury Wolves was postponed due to unsafe ice conditions at the Hershey Centre.

In Ottawa, five different players had goals as the Niagara IceDogs held on for a 5-4 win over the Ottawa 67’s. Johnny Corneil and Danial Singer had a goal and an assist each for Niagara. Ryan Mantha, Justin MacPherson and Aaron Haydon also scored for the IceDogs. Austen Keating had two goals and an assist for Ottawa. Sasha Chmelevski chipped in with a goal and two assists while Mathieu Foget also scored.

In Owen Sound, Jonah Gadjovich had a pair of goals as the Owen Sound Attack doubled up the Erie Otters 4-2. Petrus Palmu had a goal and an assist for the Attack. Cordell James also scored for Owen Sound. Joseph Murdaca made 39 saves for Erie. Dylan Strome pace the Otters offensively with a goal and an assist. Alex DeBrincat also scored for Erie.

In Windsor, a four-goal third period was the difference as the Sarnia Sting beat the Windsor Spitfires 4-2. Justin Fazio made 36 saves for the Sting. Jeff King had a pair of goals for the Sting while Jordan Kyrou added a goal and an assist. Anthony Salinitri had the other Sarnia goal. Jeremiah Addison had a goal and an assist for Windsor. Luke Boka had the other Spitfires goal.

Sunday’s other two games, which saw the Saginaw Spirit host the Flint Firebirds and the Oshawa Generals host the Peterborough Petes, were evening starts and not complete at the time of writing.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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