Hounds back on winning track

The Soo Greyhounds got back on the winning track on Friday evening with a solid 4-1 victory over the Kitchener Rangers in front of over 3,900 at Memorial Gardens.

The victory was much needed as the Hounds maintained their slim lead over the Plymouth Whalers in the race for top spot in the Ontario Hockey League's West Division.

By way of their win over Windsor on Friday, the Whalers kept pace with the Hounds and remain one point behind the locals with a game in hand. The bad news for the Whalers is that game will come on Saturday evening when they host the powerful London Knights.

With the memories of a less-than-stellar performance against Sarnia on Wednesday behind them, the Hounds came out in the first period and took the play to Kitchener, forcing Rangers netminder Dan Turple to get into a groove early.

Midway through the period, Turple made three tough saves on Hound forwards Ryan McInerney and Jacob King and then another on defenceman Jordan Smith, who had a strong game in being named first star.

Brody Todd opened the scoring later in the period when he knocked a rebound off a Kyle Wharton point shot past Turple on the power play at 14:48.

Just under four minutes into the second period, the Hounds opened up a 2-0 lead as Chris Lawrence attempted to slide the puck through the crease only to see it hit the inside of Turple's pad and find it's way to the back of the net.

Shortly after the Lawrence power play goal, Turple came up with a big save on Blair Jarrett as the Hounds forward took a feed from Jeff Carter on a shorthanded 2-on-1 only to be turned aside by the veteran goaltender.

Late in the period, Jarrett gave the Hounds a 3-0 lead after being left alone in front of the Rangers goal.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Evan McGrath got the Rangers on the board with a power play marker at 7:19 of the third period but it wasn't enough as Tyler Kennedy sealed the Greyhounds win with an empty net goal in the final minute.

The game was not without some fisticuffs as the game featured three fights, all in the second period with two involving Smith, who fought 6-foot-6 Ranger defenceman Boris Valabik and tough guy Adam Keefe.

Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg commented on the play of a number of veterans as keys to the victory for the club.

"Jacob King was a real gritty player for us tonight," Hartsburg said. "(Andrew) Desjardins played well, that whole line did (with King and Ryan McInerney). Kyle Wharton really controlled the game defensively for us. He skated himself out of trouble a few times. (Jordan Smith) is the heart and soul of our team."

"We competed harder and played smarter (than on Wednesday night)," Hartsburg continued. "It was a good two points for us. We didn't give (the Rangers) a whole lot of chances five-on-five."

Hartsburg added that, although Sunday will see the Hounds play another non-West Division opponent, the fact that it is a conference game makes it an important game nonetheless.

The Hounds bench boss went as far as to call Sunday night's game against Guelph "a huge game." Game time will be 7 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

The win improves the Hounds record to 26-24-8-1 for 61 points while maintaining their one point lead over the 26-24-5-3 Plymouth Whalers.

*** AROUND THE O:

* Jonas Fiedler, John Vigilante, and John Mitchell each had a goal and two assists while Cory Tanaka also chipped in with a pair of goals as Plymouth scored a 7-2 home-ice victory over Windsor. Cal O'Reilly had a pair of assists in the loss for Windsor.

* Tyler Harrison had a pair of goals while Ryan Oulahen had a goal and a pair of assists in Brampton's 6-3 victory over Owen Sound. Dan McDonald had a pair of assists and Luch Aquino had a goal and an assist for Brampton as well. Sault Ste. Marie native Patrick Jarrett scored all three Owen Sound goals.

* A second period goal by Peterborough's Liam Reddox was the only scoring as the Petes picked up a 1-0 victory over Kingston. Jeff MacDougald stopped all 33 shots he faced for the shutout while Dayne Davis stopped 29 shots in the loss.

* Michael Swift and John Hecimovic each had a pair of goals while Patrick O'Sullivan had a goal and three helpers as Mississauga defeated Ottawa 6-2. David Pszenyczny also had a pair of assists in the victory. Former Greyhound Brad Staubitz had a goal and an assist for Ottawa.

* Ryan Callahan capped off a three-point night with the overtime winner as Guelph defeated Sudbury 3-2. Callahan also had a pair of assists in the win. Tyler Doig chipped in with two assists in the Storm victory.

* Marc Rancourt and Evan Brophey each had a goal and an assist as Belleville came from behind to defeat Oshawa 4-3. Brandon McBride had a pair of assists while former Greyhound Matt Puntureri chipped in with a goal and an assist for Oshawa.