VIDEO: Hayton scores three as Greyhounds beat Knights

It may not have meant anything in the standings for the Soo Greyhounds, but it was an important game nonetheless.

The Soo Greyhounds opened the final weekend of the Ontario Hockey League regular season with a 6-3 win over the London Knights on Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

“It’s definitely not a meaningless game to us,” Greyhounds captain Barrett Hayton said.

“You always want to get rolling before the playoffs and get into a bit of a groove,” Hayton added. “The pace picks up a lot in the last couple of games and picks up a lot in the playoffs. It was a big game in our minds.”

In his second game back after missing nine games due to injury, Hayton scored three times and assisted on another goal for the Greyhounds.

“It was a game that wasn’t important standings-wise but he was giving me those eyes that say, ‘Put me out there in this critical situation. I want to handle it for my team.’ He truly leads by example,” Dean said.

Matt Villalta made 20 saves for the Greyhounds before leaving the game due to injury late in the second period.

Dean said following the game that the veteran netminder was fine and leaving the game was precautionary.

“He could play tomorrow if we needed him to,” Dean said.

Rookie Ethan Taylor stopped 19 of 21 shots the rest of the way for the Greyhounds.

Dean said the plan is likely to have Taylor start Sunday’s regular season finale against the Saginaw Spirit.

There were positives in Friday’s victory, aside from the score, for the Greyhounds.

“I don’t think it was a perfect game by any means, but the intent was there,” Hayton said. “We made some hard plays with pucks when we had to and that’s an aspect that we’ve been focusing on.”

“Given the last stretch hasn’t been phenomenal for us, tonight’s performance was a gusty one and we’re learning how to win the right way,” Dean said. “We’re really learning how to play without the puck. We got some lessons tonight one stuff we’re going to see in the playoffs in terms of how to hold a lead in the third and special teams at the end of games.”

“A lot of lessons are learned from games like that,” Dean added.

When it comes to the lineup for Sunday’s game against Saginaw, Dean said a decision hadn’t been made on a number of players.

Morgan Frost sat out Friday’s game as he served the third game of his three-game suspension and Dean said Frost could play on Sunday but a decision on other veterans was “up in the air.”

Mac Hollowell chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds.

Joe Carroll and Jaromir Pytlik also scored while Zack Trott assisted on a pair of Sault goals.

Evan Bouchard scored a pair of goals for London while Liam Foudy had the other goal.

Goaltender Joseph Raaymakers made 25 saves.

“We got down early, which we didn’t like, and we got into penalty trouble and even without Frost and other guys, (the Greyhounds) are still a formidable power play,” said Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter.

Discipline was also an issue for the Knights with the Greyhounds getting nine man advantages in the contest.

“It’s a fine line and you have to go into every game knowing what they’re going to call and adjust to it and we didn’t adjust,” Hunter said as he spoke to the media in place of Knights head coach Dale Hunter.

The Knights head into their final regular season contest on Saturday night in Saginaw where a win in regulation time would clinch the OHL’s Western Conference title over the Spirit, who sit one point behind London with a game in hand.

The Knights head into Saturday’s game with a 45-15-6-1 record.

The Greyhounds head into their final regular season contest on Sunday with a 43-16-7-1 record.

The Greyhounds will face the Owen Sound Attack in the opening round of the OHL playoffs. 

The Attack released a schedule for the series on Friday though it hasn't been made official by the OHL office as of Friday night. 

The series is expected to start on Mar. 21 locally with game two on Mar. 23. 

In other action around the OHL on Friday night, in Kingston, Brett Neumann had two goals and an assist as the Oshawa Generals beat the Kingston Frontenacs 6-1. Lleyton Moore assisted on a pair of goals for Oshawa.

In Mississauga, Brandon Coe and Brad Chenier had two goals and an assist each as the North Bay Battalion beat the Mississauga Steelheads 7-4. Matthew Struthers chipped in with a goal and two assists while Justin Brazeau assisted on three goals for North Bay.

In Ottawa, Adam Timleck scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the Peterborough Petes a 3-2 win over the Ottawa 67’s. Petes goaltender Tye Austin made 45 saves.

In Sarnia, Hugo Leufvenius and Franco Sproviero scored in a shootout to give the Sarnia Sting a 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Jean-Luc Foudy scored a pair of goals for Windsor.

In Sudbury, Adam Ruzicka scored four times as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 8-4. Owen Robinson had a goal and four assists for the Wolves. Shane Bulitka also had four assists for Sudbury.

In Guelph, MacKenzie Entwistle had two goals and two assists as the Guelph Storm beat the Erie Otters 5-2. Nick Suzuki chipped in with a goal and three assists while Isaac Ratcliffe had two goals and an assist for Guelph.

In Kitchener, Jonathan Yantsis had four goals and an assist as the Kitchener Rangers skated to a 9-3 win over the Owen Sound Attack. Riley Damiani had a goal and two assists while Rickard Hugg assisted on three goals for the Rangers. Alexey Lipanov scored a pair of goals for Kitchener.