Penalty kill, veteran offence help Greyhounds grab road win (video)

It looked like it might get out of hand early.

In the end, the final result may have made it look closer than it was as the Soo Greyhounds beat the Sudbury Wolves 4-2 in Ontario Hockey League action in Sudbury on Sunday afternoon.

The Greyhounds scored a pair of goals in the opening minute of the game and would ultimately outshoot the Wolves 51-28 in the contest.

While he wouldn’t say the team was dominant in the win, Greyhounds coach John Dean said “for the most part for the overall game, we played pretty well.”

“Sudbury had a great push back in the first period and credit to them for coming back with those two goals,” Dean said. “I really enjoyed our second period and in the third period, there were spurts where we gave up too many chances, but for the most part, I’m not going to say we were dominant, but I do like our 60 minutes.”

As well as the Greyhounds played in the victory, the penalty kill was a major factor as well for the visitors.

The Greyhounds killed off six Sudbury power plays in the game.

“The penalty kill was huge today,” Dean said. “Guys paid the price. We had 200-foot clears. They were blocking shots and getting in lanes. I was rolling seven different players on the PK, which is also great.”

Forward Rory Kerins, who was among the penalty killers rolled out by Dean, said he feels the team is “getting better every game” while shorthanded.

“We’re starting to see the results,” Kerins said. “It’s been two of three games in a row that we’ve kept the power play goals against to zero so we’re coming along. We want to be one of the best penalty killing teams in the second half.

Kalvyn Watson opened the scoring just 23 seconds in, beating Sudbury goaltender Jonathan Lemaire on a rebound after the Wolves netminder made an initial stop on Kerins on the play.

Just 23 seconds later, Justin Cloutier made it 2-0 when he scored on a rebound after Tanner Dickinson was stopped from the right faceoff circle.

The Wolves got on the board at 11:14 of the opening period when Nick DeGrazia beat Greyhounds starter Tucker Tynan with a backhand to the glove side.

Kocha Delic tied the game for the Wolves at 17:59 of the first period when he took a shot from the left faceoff circle through Greyhounds defenceman Luc Brzustowski, beating Tynan 5-hole on the play.

The Greyhounds took the lead in the second period when Rory Kerins beat Lemaire with a shot from the left circle glove side at 9:07.

With 5:26 to go in regulation time, Kerins gave the Greyhounds some insurance, beating Lemaire with a sharp-angle shot from the left circle.

The Wolves thought they had cut the Greyhounds lead back down to one with 2:32 to go in the third, but Jack Thompson’s wraparound goal was waved off after a video review.

Kerins finished the day with three points thanks to a pair of goals and an assist in the victory.

“A lot of (his shooting ability) is his IQ,” Dean said of the Calgary Flames prospect. “He snaps the puck exceptionally well, but he knows when to hang onto it for that extra split second to mess with the goalie a bit. He knows how to be deceptive. He’s got an excellent shot and he knows where to place it. He has purpose in everything that he does. These things don’t happen by accident with Kerinsy.”

With Kerins and Tye Kartye having played together throughout the season on a line, Kalvyn Watson was added to the line upon his return from a broken wrist after the Christmas break and the trio has found some chemistry early on.

“It’s awesome,” Watson said of playing with Kerins and Kartye. “Kerins can find you all over the ice and Kartye’s a powerhouse. It’s awesome playing with them.”

“Me and Karts have been playing together for pretty much the whole year and I’m really familiar with him and Watty adds a skilled player to the mix,” Kerins said of the trio.

Dean said Watson played Sunday’s game “firing on all cylinders.”

“He scores a great goal, but he did a lot of other good things,” Dean added. “He had a lot of good exits out of our zone, a lot of good pace moving his feet. He had a lot of good entries. He’s been a great addition to that line.”

Dickinson and Robert Calisti assisted on a pair of goals each for the Greyhounds.

Tynan stopped 25 shots for the Greyhounds.

Lemaire, who stopped 18 shots in the opening period despite giving up the early goals, made 47 saves overall for the Wolves.

The win improves the Greyhounds record to 17-10-2-0 and moves the team four points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires atop the OHL’s West Division standings.

The two clubs return to action on Tuesday night when they meet again in Sudbury in one of three rescheduled games between the two teams.

After the game in Sudbury on Tuesday, the Greyhounds will return home for a stretch of four consecutive games at home that includes a pair of games against the Windsor Spitfires on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 before facing the Owen Sound Attack in games on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16.