Hounds suffer tough loss at Belleville

BELLEVILLE – You wouldn't know the Soo Greyhounds were a struggling hockey team by the way they played on Saturday night against the Belleville Bulls.

The Greyhounds played what most would say was the perfect road game but, thanks to some strong goaltending by the Bulls Kevin Lalande, they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Bulls.

The game saw the Greyhounds outshoot the Bulls 38-20 in a game in which they were short-staffed due to injury. The Greyhounds were already playing the game without the services of Jacob Lalonde (severed Achilles tendon), David Kuchejda (Czech Republic World Junior team tryouts), Jiri Tlusty (hig ankle sprain), and Andrew Desjardins (sprained MCL).

Desjardins took a pre-game skate during warm-ups, but it was found out later that it was part of his rehab assignment. He was skating with a knee brace for the first time and will be re-evaluated on Sunday morning.

They also received a scare when veteran forward Brandon MacLean was injured in the second period during a scrum in front of the Bulls goal. MacLean was stepped on and received a cut to the side of his leg. The cut was deep and required stitches to close.

Despite the injuries, the Greyhounds peppered Lalande with scoring chance after scoring chance, only to be turned aside.

"The only thing I'm disappointed about this game was we didn't get the two points," said Hounds coach Denny Lambert. "The young kids played great. The older veterans led the way, the way they're supposed to. Coming into this building, it's hard to adjust sometimes with the big rink, but everything out of this game for me is a positive."

After Tyler Donati opened the scoring early on the power play, the Greyhounds took control. Despite a late chance by Belleville's Aaron Snow in the final minutes of the period, the Greyhounds had the momentum.

Brandon MacLean got the Greyhounds back on even terms early in the second period with a point shot through a crowd on the power play.

P.K. Subban gave the Bulls a one-goal lead they would not relinquish when a point shot found its way through a crowd in front and past Greyhounds netminder Matt Hache. Shawn Matthias scored into an empty net to seal the victory.

The Greyhounds kept the defensive pair of Tyler Cuthbert and Brad Good against the line of Tyler Donati, Shawn Matthias and Matt Beleskey. The duo limited the offensive production of the Bulls top line in a solid effort.

"I thought they did an outstanding job," Lambert said. "When you come into a different building and adjust to the size, they shut them down. That's part of their job. They don't get to see the power play but they're real focused on shutting down other teams top lines."

With the loss, the Greyhounds record drops to 15-16-0-4 while the Bulls improve their East Division-leading record to 19-13-0-2.

The Greyhounds will wrap up their road trip on Sunday when they face the Kitchener Rangers in Kitchener in a 6 p.m. start. The Bulls are now off until after Christmas.

*** AROUND THE OHL:

AT OTTAWA: Toronto St. Michael's Majors goaltender Wayne Savage stopped 48 shots in front of a crowd of 3,587 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa 67's. Logan Couture, Jamie McGinn, Matt Lahey and Cody Lindsay scored for Ottawa while Justin Donati scored for Toronto.

AT LONDON: A four-goal third period, paced by a pair by Mike McLean, gave the Guelph Storm a 6-3 win over the London Knights. McLean scored three times on the night. Tyler Doig added three assists in the win.

AT PETERBOROUGH: Nick Foligno had a goal and two assists while Adam McQuaid added three assists in a 5-1 Sudbury Wolves victory over the Peterborough Petes. Petes goaltender Trevor Cann stopped 48 shots, including 33 in the first period.

AT BARRIE: Peter Tsimikalis had a goal and an assist to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Barrie Colts. Nick Spaling and Mike Duco also scored for the Rangers.

AT ERIE: Nigel Williams scored three goals as the Saginaw Spirit defeated the Erie Otters 7-1. Garrett Sinfield scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the win. Spirit goaltender Ryan Daniels stopped 25 shots.

AT OWEN SOUND: Mike Weber scored with one second left in overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 4-3 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Joshua Bailey added a pair of assists for Windsor. Scott Tregunna and Wayne Simmonds had a pair of assists each for the Attack.