Hounds struggle in loss to Sting (video)

Hard work has been a staple of the Soo Greyhounds since Craig Hartsburg took over as coach in October, 2004.

Friday night the Greyhounds lacked the work ethic expected of them and it showed in a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Sarnia Sting at the Steelback Centre. The Sting managed to outplay the Greyhounds on most levels in front of the crowd of nearly 4,800.

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The Greyhounds fell behind in the opening period after the Sting converted on a pair of power play chances. Trevor Kell and Harrison Reed scored just under three minutes apart to give the Sting the lead in a period that saw them outshot 11-8.

After Kell scored his second power play goal of the night at 1:37 of the second period, Greyhounds first round pick James Livingston looked to spark his team with a spirited fight against Sarnia's Chris Mifflen. The fight worked in the short term as Dustin Jeffrey scored just over a minute later to cut the Sarnia lead to 3-1.

Daniel Lombardi restored the three-goal Sarnia lead before the midway point of the period when he deflected a Nick Tuzzolino point shot past Greyhound netminder Kyle Gajewski.

Steven Stamkos of Sarnia and Brandon MacLean of the Greyhounds traded early third period goals to put the score at 5-2. Justin DiBenedetto, shorthanded, and Brandon Mashinter scored just over a minute apart late in the period to seal the victory for the Sting.

The Greyhounds struggled to gain or maintain any sort of offensive attack and were plagued by a special teams effort that was non-existent at times. The Greyhounds gave up three power play goals on the Sting's six power plays along with the shorthanded marker by DiBenedetto.

The Greyhounds record falls to 16-18-0-4, including a 1-5-0-0 record under Denny Lambert, who is filling in while Hartsburg is away coaching Team Canada in the World Junior Championships. The Sting improved their record to 20-10-2-3 with the win.

The Greyhounds now hope to put the loss behind them as they prepare to host one of the OHL's elite. The Greyhounds host the Kitchener Rangers in a New Year's Eve matinee at the Steelback Centre on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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