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Special teams, strong third lift Greyhounds

The Soo Greyhounds received solid performances for its special teams and goaltender Joseph Raaymakers in a win over the Flint Firebirds
2017-03-27 Greyhounds at Flint NS
Tim Gettinger celebrates a second period goal in the Soo Greyhounds 3-1 win over the Flint Firebirds on Monday night. Photo courtesy Natalie Shaver

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It wasn’t easy, but the Soo Greyhounds got home-ice advantage back.

The Greyhounds skated to a 3-1 victory over the Flint Firebirds at the Dort Federal Event Center in Ontario Hockey League playoff action on Monday night to take a 2-1 series lead after dropping game two on home ice on Saturday night.

After a lacklustre opening 40 minutes, the Greyhounds scored a pair of goals in the third period to pick up the victory.

“In the third, we did a good job of controlling the play and controlling our emotions,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister. “We did a lot better job spending more time in the offensive zone and playing a little bit faster in the neutral zone.”

The Greyhounds were forced to kill off seven penalties through the opening 40 minutes and eight in the game overall.

“It’s tough on your goaltending and it’s tough on your penalty kill,” Bannister said.

“They did a good job,” Bannister said. “Our penalty kill and power play were the difference in the game.”

The Greyhounds scored three unanswered goals to pick up the victory. Zach Senyshyn scored the eventual game-winning goal at 13:37 of the third period as he deflected a Conor Timmins point shot past Flint goaltender Connor Hicks on the power play.

Tim Gettinger also scored for the Greyhounds, converting a feed from Hayden Verbeek early in the second period with the Greyhounds shorthanded.

“It was a positive for us,” Bannister said of the shorthanded marker. “It gave us a little bit of energy on the bench. Getting out of the second period tied was a positive in the room. Up until that point, we were unhappy with the way we played. We needed to put a good 20 minutes together (in the third period) to win us the hockey game.”

Boris Katchouk sealed the win for the Greyhounds with an empty net goal with 48 seconds to go, scoring moments after the Greyhounds killed off a late-game Flint power play.

Joseph Raaymakers made 33 saves for the Greyhounds, including 29 in the opening two periods. The veteran netminder has stopped 40 of 41 shots in four periods of work in the series after entering game two in relief of Matthew Villalta. The game was Raaymakers’ first OHL playoff start and win.

“I felt good,” Raaymakers said. “The guys did a good job of keeping shots to the outside.”

“Joseph was excellent, especially in the first period,” Bannister said. “Overall he played very well for us.”

Concerning the starter for game four, Bannister said “we’ll make a decision in the next (24 hours) before we get back to work on Wednesday.”

Raaymakers called the Greyhounds penalty kill a key between games two and three.

“That was a difference-maker between the last two games,” Raaymakers said. “The boys really bore down. Our forwards and defencemen were great getting pucks down deep in their zone and not getting caught in our zone too long.”

Kole Sherwood had the lone goal for Flint. Goaltender Connor Hicks made 25 saves.

The Greyhounds will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead on Wednesday night in game four, also in Flint. The series will then shift to Sault Ste. Marie for game five at the Essar Centre on Friday night.

Notes: The Firebirds played the game without veteran forward Ryan Moore, who was suspended five games by the league after an incident in the late stages of game two in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night. During a post-goal scrum, Moore made a comment to Greyhounds overage forward Bobby MacIntyre that was overheard by the officials. Moore was subsequently suspended for what the league called “an inappropriate comment to an opponent.” His game misconduct came under rule 23.6, which includes racial and homophobic slurs.

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OTHER SCORES

In Kitchener, Michael McNiven made 21 saves as the Owen Sound Attack blanked the Kitchener Rangers 4-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven first round series. Nick Suzuki scored a pair of goals for the Attack while Kevin Hancock and Santino Centorame had a goal and an assist each. Kitchener goaltender Luke Opilka made 41 saves.

In Sarnia, the Erie Otters took a 3-0 series lead over the Sarnia Sting thanks to a 5-3 win. Dylan Strome had a goal and three assists for the Otters. Veteran defenceman Darren Raddysh had two goals and an assist while Alex DeBrincat also had three points with a goal and two assists. Kyle Pettit had the other goal for Erie. Kevin Spinozzi had a goal and an assist for the Sting. Jordan Ernst and Jaden Lindo also scored for Sarnia.

The playoff schedule resumes on Tuesday night with five games.

The Niagara IceDogs will host the Peterborough Petes with the Petes leading the series 2-0. The Hamilton Bulldogs return home with a 2-0 series lead over the Kingston Frontenacs. The Ottawa 67’s will host the Mississauga Steelheads with their Eastern Conference series ties at one game apiece. Also heading into game three tied at one, the Sudbury Wolves will host the Oshawa Generals. The lone Western Conference matchup on Tuesday will see the Windsor Spitfires host the London Knights. That series is tied at one through two games.

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NEWS AND NOTES

The Windsor Spitfires will be without overage forward Jeremiah Addison for games three and four of their Western Conference playoff series against the London Knights.

The veteran forward was handed a two-game suspension after he cross-checked London forward Max Jones in the second period of game two. He received a major penalty and game misconduct on the play after breaking his stick with the cross check.


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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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