VIDEO: Spirit force OT, Greyhounds win (twice)

It was a game where the result might not have been warranted but the Soo Greyhounds came away with a victory.

A goal by Morgan Frost 3:06 into overtime gave the Greyhounds a 4-3 victory over the Saginaw Spirit on Friday night at the Essar Centre in Ontario Hockey League action.

The Frost game-winner would eventually be awarded upon review, but only after play stopped when Boris Katchouk beat Spirit goaltender Cameron Lamour at 3:34 of the extra frame. 

It was a game that Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister was critical of.

“At the end of the day, we found a way to win,” Bannister said, “but certainly we weren’t at our best. We had spurts where we were good but for the most part we weren’t very good. You come away getting two points that we probably didn’t deserve.”

“Early on we were pretty casual in the way we approached the game early on,” Bannister also said. “We were a little bit lazy and we picked it up after the (mid-period) timeout. In the second period we were fine. I had no issue with the second. In the third period they snuck back in.”

Frost and Taylor Raddysh had a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds while Noah Carroll and Hayden Verbeek also scored. Tim Gettinger assisted on a pair of goals.

Matthew Villalta made 27 saves for the Greyhounds.

“Matthew was fine other than the second goal,” Bannister said. “I didn’t have any issues with Matthew’s game.”

Bannister said defenceman Rasmus Sandin, who was injured last weekend in Saginaw, will not play Sunday afternoon when the Greyhounds wrap up the weekend at home against the Erie Otters. 

Sandin hasn’t skated with the team since the injury.

Goaltender Tyler Johnson remained out of the lineup for the Greyhounds as well and Bannister said he did not expect the veteran to be available Sunday but it’s possible he could be ready to go next week on the road.

Trailing 3-0, the Spirit scored three times in the final period, including goals by Caleb Everett and Max Grondin just under three minutes apart early in the period to cut the lead to one. 

Damien Giroux also scored for the Spirit.

“We need every point we can get,” said Spirit Coach Troy Smith. “We’re happy to get it, especially battling back there.”

“We played well in the first two periods as well, but we just didn’t get any bounces,” Smith also said. “That’s been a sign for our group all year. Our kids work extremely hard and rarely have they quit.”

Evan Cormier got the start for the Spirit but was pulled after giving up three goals on nine shots. Lamour entered the game and stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced the rest of the way.

The Greyhounds improve to 42-5-2-1 with the victory while Saginaw drops to 24-19-6-0.

In other games around the OHL on Friday night, in Flint, Maurizio Colella scored 23 seconds into overtime as the Flint Firebirds beat the Sarnia Sting 3-2. Colella and Ty Dellandrea had a goal and an assist for Flint. 

In Kingston, Brett Neumann had a goal and three assists as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Oshawa Generals 7-1. Gabriel Vilardi assisted on three goals for Kingston.

In Mississauga, Matthew Struthers had a pair of goals as the North Bay Battalion beat the Mississauga Steelheads 5-3. Reagan O’Grady had a pair of goals for Mississauga.

In Ottawa, Tye Felhaber had a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Niagara IceDogs 6-5. 

In Sudbury, Troy Lajeunesse had a pair of goals as the Erie Otters doubled up the Sudbury Wolves 4-2. Christian Girhiny and Stephan Patry chipped in with a goal and an assist each.

In Guelph, Aidan Dudas scored a pair of goals as the Owen Sound Attack beat the Guelph Storm 6-4. Maksim Sushko chipped in with a goal and two assists for Owen Sound. 

In Kitchener, Austin McEneny’s goal at 13:47 of the third period was the game-winner as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3. Logan Brown assisted on four goals for the Rangers. Brandon Saigeon had all three goals for Hamilton. 

In London, Zachary Magwood had two goals and two assists as the Barrie Colts beat the London Knights 8-4. Ryan Suzuki chipped in with a pair of goals while Jaden Peca assisted on three goals for the Colts.