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Saultite backstops Spitfires to win over Greyhounds (14 photos)

Mario Culina of Sault Ste. Marie was strong in goal for the visiting Windsor Spitfires Friday night against the Soo Greyhounds

A Saultite was a major difference as the Soo Greyhounds opened the Ontario Hockey League regular season on Friday night.

Windsor Spitfires goaltender Mario Culina, a Sault product, made 23 saves as the Spitfires skated to a 5-2 win over the Greyhounds in front of an announced crowd of 3,968 at the Essar Centre.

Culina made 20 stops through the opening two periods to keep the game close before Windsor scored five unanswered goals in the final period to pick up the win.

“If not for Mario in the first two periods, we don’t even have this conversation,” said Windsor Coach Rocky Thompson of the sophomore netminder. “He was outstanding. There were a few key saves that he had to make and it kept our momentum in check.”

Culina was pleased with the start and spoke of his experience was a factor in the solid start.

“It feels unreal,” Culina said of the win. “Especially being down 2-0. Getting five unanswered goals is a character win.”

“I felt calm,” Culina also said. “I have more experience now over last year so I feel really good.”

Culina also spoke of his enjoyment playing at the Essar Centre, where he’s had success both in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and the OHL.

“I have a winning record on this ice,” Culina said. “I won with the Thunderbirds. I’ve won with Windsor.”

For the Greyhounds, Coach Drew Bannister said fatigue from having a short bench wasn’t a factor in the loss.

“I don’t think guys got tired,” said Bannister. “Our guys did a lot of good things in the first (period). There were things that were creeping into our game. One was our discipline. They were soft penalties. And our turnovers. We had turnovers in the first and the second and we warned the guys about them. They continued to turn the puck over and it ended up in the back of our net.”

“Everything was self inflicted, whether it was penalties or turnovers,” Bannister also said. “(Windsor) didn’t had to work for any of their goals.”

Rookie goaltender Matthew Villalta made 22 saves for the Greyhounds.

“He was good throughout the whole game,” Bannister said of the rookie netminder.

Bannister would also say that Villalta will get the start on Saturday night as the Greyhounds return to action on Saturday night though he would also say that wasn’t an indication that the rookie has secured the backup role behind Joseph Raaymakers when he returns from NHL camp.

Morgan Frost and Liam Hawel completed the Greyhounds scoring.

With eight players still away at NHL camps, including Raaymakers (New York Rangers), Colton White (New Jersey), Zach Senyshyn (Boston), Boris Katchouk (Tampa Bay), Blake Speers (New Jersey), Tim Gettinger (New York Rangers), Gustav Bouramman (Minnesota) and Jack Kopacka (Anaheim) and Bryce Yetman out due to injury, the Greyhounds lost the services of overage defenceman Medric Mercier in the second period after he was cut on the throat by a skate following a hit. He left the game for stiches and did not return. Bannister said the chances of him playing on Saturday were 50/50.

Austin McEneny assisted on four of Windsor’s five goals while Aaron Luchuk and Cristiano DiGiacinto added a goal and an assist each. Andrew Burns, Cole Purboo and Hayden McCool also scored.

“We weren’t happy with the second period,” said Thompson. “We changed our lines up a little bit. We made a few adjustments going into the third period and the line combinations was a little bit of a spark for sure. The guys executed the little things that we did make as adjustments and we got rewarded for it.”

“That just built confidence within themselves and we were able to piggy-back that momentum,” Thompson added. “At the end of the day, we started to execute (in the third period).”

The Greyhounds wrap up the weekend Saturday as the Oshawa Generals make their lone appearance at the Essar Centre.

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OTHER SCORES

In Kingston, Ben Hawechuk’s goal at 14:02 of the third period was the game-winner as the Barrie Colts beat the Kingston Frontenacs 2-1. Sault Ste. Marie native Anthony Stefano had the other goal for Barrie. Jason Robertson had the lone goal for Kingston.

In Mississauga, Matt Luff, who recently signed an entry-level contract with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings had three goals and an assist as the Hamilton Bulldogs blanked the Mississauga Steelheads 7-0. MacKenzie Entwistle added a pair of goals while Niki Petti had a goal and an assist. Luke Kutkevicius also scored for Hamilton. Jesse Saban assisted on three goals while Brandon Saigeon added a pair of assists. Kaden Fulcher made 31 saves for the shutout.

In North Bay, Colton Incze made 32 saves as the Niagara IceDogs beat the North Bay Battalion 3-1. Kyle Langdon had a goal and an assist while William Lochead and Matthew Philip also scored for Niagara. Brent Moran made 38 saves for North Bay.

In Sudbury, Darian Pilon’s goal held up as the game-winner as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Oshawa Generals 4-3. David Levin and Alan Lyszczarczyk added a goal and an assist each while overage defenceman Aiden Jamieson assisted on a pair of goals. MacAuley Carson also scored for Sudbury. Domenic Commisso and Eric Henderson had a goal and two assists each for Oshawa. Renars Krastenbergs added a goal and an assist for the Generals.

In Sarnia, Brady Hinz scored the game-winning goal just under five minutes into the third period as the Sarnia Sting beat the Owen Sound Attack 3-2. Hinz and Jordan Ernst had a goal and an assist each while Troy Lajeunesse assisted on two goals for Sarnia. Jeff King had the other Sarnia goal. Matthew Struthers and Nick Suzuki scored for Owen Sound.

In Guelph, Liam Herbst made 35 saves while Liam Stevens had a pair of goals as the Guelph Storm beat the Saginaw Spirit 5-1. Nate Schnarr added a goal and an assist while Matthew Hotchkiss and Luke Burghardt also scored for Guelph. Brendan Bonello make 34 saves for Saginaw. Mike Davies had the lone goal for the Spirit.

In Kitchener, Greg Meireles had a goal and two assists while Elijah Roberts and Nick McHugh had a goal and an assist each as the Kitchener Rangers doubled up the Flint Firebirds 4-2. Kyle Gentles also scored for the Rangers. Ty Dellandrea and Mathieu Henderson scored for Flint while Nicholas Caamano assisted on both goals.

In London, Chandler Yackimowicz had a goal and two assists while Owen MacDonald and Sam Miletic added a goal and an assist each as the London Knights beat the Erie Otters 6-2. Cole Tymkin, Noah Bennett and Richard Whittaker also scored for London. Victor Mete assisted on a pair of London goals. Brett Neumann and Ivan Lodnia scored for Erie.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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