It was a disappointing effort on one end along with a strong road effort on the other.
The North Bay Battalion scored four times in the third period to beat the Soo Greyhounds 4-2 at the Essar Centre on Saturday night in Ontario Hockey League action.
For the Greyhounds, it was an effort the team will look to put on the backburner quickly ahead of the homestand finale on Sunday afternoon.
“Our energy right from the start wasn’t there and it lingered throughout the game,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said. “If you don’t play with energy, you don’t play with pace. That’s our game. We have to be able to play with pace.
“We let a hockey team hang around even being up one and eventually it comes back to hurt you and it did in the third period,” Bannister added.
Rookie forward Barrett Hayton was one of the few bright spots in the loss as the 16-year-old had both goals for the Greyhounds.
For the Battalion, it was a night that saw rookie goaltender Mat Woroniuk stop 33 shots in his first OHL start.
“We’re really happy with the way he played,” North Bay Coach Stan Butler said. “This is an extremely tough building to play in.”
Bannister felt that the Greyhounds didn’t test the rookie netminder enough early and limited traffic was also an issue.
“In the first period we definitely didn’t test him,” Bannister said. “I don’t know if we had enough traffic but we definitely had a lot more pucks to the net. We certainly made it easier on him than we would have liked to.”
Brett McKenzie had a pair of goals for the Battalion while Zach Shankar and Brett Hargrave also scored.
The defensive game was also a bright spot for the Battalion.
“Our D did a good job that even if they did get a shot, there wasn’t a second shot and that’s tough to do against a team with that speed,” Butler said.
“The biggest thing when you’re playing possession teams that have great speed is you have to try to check well in the neutral zone and when they get into your zone, you’re not outmanned,” Butler also said.
Bannister said that puck support was available throughout the game but gaps closing quickly was an issue.
“There was support there but we just didn’t move the puck quick enough then things got closed off quick,” Bannister said.
“We tried to do a lot of things individually with the puck and we threw a lot of pucks away for no reason,” Bannister also said.
Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers made 23 saves.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon in a 2 p.m. start against the Owen Sound Attack at the Essar Centre.
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OTHER SCORES
In Ottawa, Mitchell Stephens scored the game-winning goal at 15:37 of the third period as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Ottawa 67’s 2-1. Brady Gilmour also scored for Saginaw while Ben Evans had the lone Ottawa goal.
In Erie, Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist while Taylor Raddysh added a goal and two assists as the Erie Otters beat the Flint Firebirds 5-3. Gera Poddubnyi added a goal and an assist while Brett Neumann also scored. Ryan Moore and Kole Sherwood had a goal and an assist each for the Firebirds. Luke Kirwan also scored for Flint.
In Hamilton, Marian Studenic’s goal at 11:54 of the third period was the game-winner as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Guelph Storm 5-4. Matthew Strome finished the day with a goal and two assists while Matt Luff and Michael Cramarossa had a goal and an assist each. Niki Petti also scored for the Bulldogs. James McEwan scored a pair of goals for Guelph. Nate Schnarr and Kyle Rhodes had the other Storm goals. Rookie defenceman Ryan Merkley assisted on three goals while Garrett McFadden added a pair of helpers. Hamilton goaltender Kaden Fulcher stopped 39 shots while Anthony Popovich stopped 38 shots for the Storm.
In Sarnia, Anthony Salinitri and Nikita Korostelev had shootout goals as the Sarnia Sting beat the Peterborough Petes 3-2. Korostelev had both goals for Sarnia in regulation time. Peterborough goaltender Aidan Hughes made 36 saves. C.J. Clarke and Logan DeNoble scored in regulation time for the Petes.
In Barrie, Roy Radke had two goals and an assist as the Barrie Colts doubled up the Kitchener Rangers 6-3. Cordell James also scored a pair of goals for Barrie. Zachary Magwood chipped in with a goal and an assist. Adrian Carbonara had the other Colts goal while Lucas Chiodo assisted on three goals. Jake Henderson had a goal and an assist while Joseph Garreffa and Jeremy Bracco also scored for Kitchener. Darby Llewellyn assisted on two Rangers goals. Chris McGonigle made 36 saves for the Rangers.
