Hounds escape Attack

The Soo Greyhounds looked as though they were going to be in a tough position on Friday night at Memorial Gardens.

With two of their top defencemen in Kyle Wharton and Brad Good both nursing injuries, the Greyhounds were going up against one of the Ontario Hockey League's hottest teams in the Owen Sound Attack, who entered the game having won eight of their last ten games.

The Attack were also suffering from the injury bug as Bobby Ryan, the team's second leading scorer with 62 points, did not make the trip with the team after suffering a shoulder injury in the CHL Top Prospects game on Wednesday night.

Despite not having Ryan in the lineup, the Attack did present the Greyhounds with a potent offence that included Brad Richardson (fourth in league scoring with 63 points), Stefan Ruzicka (52 points in 38 games), and local product Pat Jarrett (48 points in 43 games).

The Attack showed the Greyhounds how potent their offensive attack can be just 1:54 into the opening period as Richardson fired a loose puck past Hounds starter Jakub Cech on the power play.

The lead did not last long though as Hounds defenceman Martin Tuma pulled the Greyhounds back on even terms when he scored a power play goal of his own at 3:36. With traffic in front of Owen Sound netminder Mike Brown, Tuma fired a shot that the veteran netminder could not handle.

It looked as though the two teams were going to enter the third period with the score still tied at one until Greyhounds forward Andrew Desjardins beat Brown with just 9.6 seconds remaining on the clock to send the game into the third with the Greyhounds holding a 2-1 edge.

Tuma then gave the Hounds a two goal cushion, something they would need later in the period, as he fired another point shot through traffic past Brown. The goal, Tuma's second of the night, again came on the power play at 9:48.

The goal was a much-needed cushion as Pat Jarrett got the Attack back to within one goal at 13:52 when he beat Cech on the power play. The goal wasn't enough though as the Greyhounds toughed out the 3-2 victory.

The win also marked the 18th time since Dec. 1 that the Greyhounds held their opponent to three goals or less. During that time the Greyhounds have posted a team goals against average of 2.72.

Following the game, Greyhounds coach Craig Hartsburg commented on how pleased he was that his younger defencemen, particularly Tyson Aitcheson and Tyler Cuthbert stepped up in the absence of Wharton and Good.

"They were playing against second line type players and they did a good job," Hartsburg said of the youngsters. "(Josh Day) did a good job too as the youngest of the group. Once we get everyone back (Aitcheson and Cuthbert) are going to be a pretty solid five and six defencemen."

Hartsburg was also pleased with the play of Cech, who stopped 21 shots in the victory.

"He made some big saves when we needed him," Hartsburg commented. "We played solid in front of him.

"We created a lot of chances and we were smarter offensively tonight," Hartsburg added. I thought our guys played well for 60 minutes and played a pretty smart game. The key for us for the rest of the year is to create a lot of (scoring) chances. Don't ever give up a chance to get a shot is our motto."

The feeling is that in order to win games, the Greyhounds need to play smart and work within their talents. Hartsburg alluded to that following Friday's game as well.

"We won this game as a team and that's the way we have to do it (for the rest of the season)," Hartsburg said. "It's something that we need to expect from ourselves every night is to play a smart, hard game. We have to understand the type of team we are. We have to feel comfortable playing in 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 games."

With the win, combined with a Plymouth loss to Barrie, the Hounds pull to within one point of the Whalers for top spot in the West Division, although the Whalers do have two games in hand.

Next action for the Greyhounds will be on Sunday night when they take on the Sarnia Sting at Memorial Gardens. Game time is 7 p.m.

*** AROUND THE O:

* Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist while Mike McLean chipped in with a pair of assists as Guelph defeated Erie 3-1.

* Corey Perry, David Bolland, and Dylan Hunter combined for nine points while Dan Fritsche chipped in with two points as London defeated Kingston 5-0. Hunter had a pair of goals while Fritsche had a goal and an assist. Perry had four assists in the win while Bolland chipped in with three.

* A three goal performance from Peter Tsimikalis wasn't enough as the Kitchener Rangers received goals from seven different players en route to an 8-5 victory over Oshawa. Justin Azevedo had two goals for Kitchener while Michael Richards had a goal and a pair of assists in the win. Seven Ranger players had multi-point games.

* Dan McDonald and Luch Aquino each had a goal and an assist as Brampton beat Mississauga 5-3. Kevin Couture stopped 40 shots in the Brampton goal for the victory.

* Lukas Kaspar and Jakub Petruzalek each had a goal and two assists while Will Colbert also added a pair of assists in a 5-3 Ottawa victory over Saginaw. Michal Birner had a goal and an assist for Saginaw in the loss.

* A shorthanded goal late in the opening period by B.J. Crombeen proved to be the winner as the Barrie Colts beat the Plymouth Whalers 2-0. Francois Thuot stopped all 27 shots directed at him for the shutout.

* A three goal third period, which included two goals by Ryan Garlock, helped lift the Windsor Spitfires to a 4-4 tie with the Sarnia Sting. Kody Musselman had a goal and an assist for Sarnia.

* A Ryan Wilson goal at 3:46 of the third period proved to be the winner as Toronto beat Sudbury 4-3. The Wilson goal came just 46 seconds after Sudbury's Rafal Martynowski had tied the game.