The Soo Greyhounds continue to find ways to win.
A pair of goals in the late stages of the first period helped lift the Greyhounds to a 3-1 win over the North Bay Battalion on Friday night at the Essar Centre in Ontario Hockey League action.
The Greyhounds extended a team-record winning streak to 16 games in the process.
“We competed hard and did a lot of good things,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister, who said he was happier with the team’s effort on Friday compared to Wednesday’s win over the Sarnia Sting.
“We were forced to grind out a game that was really tight,” Bannister said. “It’s good to have tight games but everybody who is coming into play us has nothing to lose. They’re playing the number one ranked team in the country and they want to be the team that ends our streak. They’re coming in motivated and want to play their best. We’re just trying to play good hockey regardless of who we play. There’s quite a large target on our back.”
Bannister would also credit the Greyhounds ability through the streak of finding ways to win.
Greyhounds goaltender Tyler Johnson made 27 saves.
“He looked really confident in the net,” Bannister said. “His confidence is growing.”
“He’s put a string together where he’s played well for us,” Bannister added.
Morgan Frost paced the Greyhounds with a goal and an assist. Mac Hollowell and Boris Katchouk also scored.
North Bay goaltender Julian Sime made 37 saves.
“He played strong in all the games (against the Greyhounds),” said North Bay Coach Stan Butler. “When your goalie plays like that, you’re going to have a chance to win.”
Luke Burghardt had the lone North Bay goal.
“I’m happy with the effort,” Butler said. “The kids give us a good effort. We’re not the most gifted offensive team so we work hard, and we try to make a game of things.”
The Greyhounds played the game without captain Tim Gettinger, who left Wednesday’s game with a lower body injury. Bannister said the forward remains day-to-day and couldn’t comment on his status for the Greyhounds game Sunday afternoon against the Windsor Spitfires.
Heading into Sunday’s game, the Greyhounds hold a record of 25-3-2-0 and remain four points up on the Sarnia Sting in the OHL’s West Division
Meanwhile, the Battalion fall to 10-16-4-0 as the team returns home to host the Barrie Colts in a key divisional matchup on Sunday afternoon. The Battalion moved one point up on the Mississauga Steelheads in the Central Division after the Steelheads lost on Friday night.
In other action around the Ontario Hockey League on Friday night, in Kingston, Colton Incze made 31 saves as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Kingston Frontenacs 3-1. Kirill Maksimov had a goal and an assist for Niagara.
In Mississauga, Jason Willms’ goal at 17:24 of the third period was the game winner as the Barrie Colts beat the Mississauga Steelheads 3-2. Zachary Magwood had a goal and two assists for Barrie.
In Sarnia, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and two assists as the Sarnia Sting beat the Erie Otters 7-4. Adam Ruzicka chipped in with a pair of goals for Sarnia while Anthony Salinitri had three assists. Alex Gritz scored twice for Erie. Patrick Fellows had a goal and two assists for the Otters.
In Guelph, Anthony Popovich made 42 saves as the Guelph Storm beat the Owen Sound Attack 6-3. The Storm scored three times in the third period to break a 3-3 tie.
In Kitchener, Adam Mascherin scored a 3:41 of overtime to give the Kitchener Rangers a 5-4 win over the Flint Firebirds. Logan Stanley assisted on three Kitchener goals.
In Oshawa, Matt Brassard scored a pair of goals as the Oshawa Generals beat the Ottawa 67’s 5-3. Brendan Harrogate chipped in with a goal and two assists for the Generals.
In London, Evan Bouchard score 50 seconds into overtime to give the London Knights a 4-3 win over the Peterborough Petes. Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist while Sam Miletic assisted on a pair of goals for London.
