Slow start burns Greyhounds in road loss

It was a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of.

A slow start led to a 4-0 deficit on Thursday night as the Soo Greyhounds dropped a 6-3 Ontario Hockey League decision to the Windsor Spitfires at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

Outshot 13-9 in the frame, the Greyhounds struggled through the opening period and the Spitfires took advantage, jumping out to a lead that was too big to recover from for the Greyhounds.

“The first period was really tough,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said. “We looked very passive against a big, strong team in our own zone. We looked a little nervous to be aggressive and close out. (There was) a lot of miscommunication in defensive zone coverage and some of our better players took a bit of a sleep in the first period unfortunately.”

“Windsor played a really good first period and we struggled,” Dean also said. “We had a tough start and our guys battled back exceptionally hard for 40 minutes.”

Aside from some potential fatigue in the third period, Dean went on to say he felt the final two periods were something the Greyhounds can build on as the team prepares to face Flint on Friday night.

“We made a small adjustment between periods,” Dean said. “We really were aggressive. I loved the way we played in the offensive zone.

“I loved the way our defencemen exited our zone,” Dean added. “It was a real quality period and that’s how we want to play on a consistent basis.”

Veteran forward Jaden Peca called the start “disappointing” but the second period was something positive after the slow start.

“If we play like that for the full three (periods), that game could be a whole different story,” Peca said.

Cole Purboo paced the Spitfires with a pair of goals, both in the opening period.

Windsor defenceman Connor Corcoran assisted on the first three goals of the contest.

Curtis Douglas and Tyler Angle had the other two Windsor goals in the opening period while Dylan Robinson and Will Cuylle also scored.

Goaltender Kari Piiroinen made 24 saves for the Spitfires.

Robert Calisti had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds.

Peca and Tye Kartye also scored.

Bailey Brkin got the start in goal, stopping nine of 13 Windsor shots in the opening period. Ethan Taylor stopped 12 of 14 shots in the final 40 minutes for the Greyhounds.

The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Greyhounds. The team will take a 9-13-1-0 record into action Friday night in Flint against the Firebirds.

Windsor, sitting in top spot in the OHL’s West Division, improves to 13-3-3-0.

In other action around the league on Thursday, in Ottawa, the Ottawa 67’s scored four times in the third period to erase a 3-2 deficit and beat the Sudbury Wolves 6-3. Jack Quinn had two goals and an assist for Ottawa. Chase Stillman scored twice for Sudbury.

In Mississauga, five unanswered goals lifted the London Knights to a 5-2 win over the Mississauga Steelheads. Liam Foudy had two goals and two assists for the Knights while Ryan Merkley also had a pair of goals. Alec Regula had a goal and two assists and Connor McMichael had three assists for London.

In St. Catharines, Akil Thomas had the shootout winner as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Erie Otters 5-4. Niagara goaltender Tucker Tynan stopped 43 shots and all three Erie shooters in the shootout.

In North Bay, Allan McShane had a pair of goals as the Oshawa Generals beat the North Bay Battalion 4-3. Brett Neumann chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Generals.

In Peterborough, shootout goals by Nick Wong, Francesco Arcuri, and Shane Wright lifted the Kingston Frontenacs to a 4-3 win over the Peterborough Petes. Zayde Wisdom had a pair of goals for the Frontenacs.

In Saginaw, Cole Perfetti had a pair of goals as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Owen Sound Attack 5-4. Dalton Duhart had a goal and an assist for the Spirit.