Greyhounds capitalize in battle of conference leaders

It was among the most important games of the season.

With the Ontario Hockey League’s Christmas break just days away, the Soo Greyhounds rode a strong third period to a crucial win leading into the final weekend prior to the Ontario Hockey League’s Christmas break.

The Greyhounds capitalized on a four-minute stretch in the third period that saw them turn a tie game into a lead and an eventual 6-3 victory over the Kitchener Rangers at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

After scoring a goal on the power play late in the second period to send the game into the third tied at three, the Greyhounds proceeded to score three times in a 4:07 stretch to take the lead for good and pick up a win over the conference-leading Rangers.

Veteran forward Julian Fantino called the Greyhounds “dominant” during the stretch, which was started by a goal from the 19-year-old.

Coach John Dean called the stretch “huge.”

Dean called the current Greyhounds team “the most mature and most intelligent” group he’s had as a coach.

“Probably the best at making in-game adjustments and holding each other accountable I’ve ever coached here in six years,” Dean added.

Overage forward Brenden Sirizzotti called the win “the biggest two points of the year.”

Sirizzotti added that he was “beyond proud” of the way the team responded when the game was tied.

“We battled,” Sirizzotti added. “We have guys on the penalty kill like (Connor) Clattenburg blocking four or five shots in one single shift on the PK. You can’t teach that stuff.”

Dean called the first period average, adding that he felt the Greyhounds started to show some “swagger” in the second period.

“We had some really good zone time, but our D zone was sloppy,” Dean said. “Our neutral zone forecheck was a little sloppy and we allowed them to gain our zone a bit.”

“I basically see a game where we got better every period,” Dean added.

Much like following Wednesday’s win over North Bay, Dean spoke of the depth of the Greyhounds in Friday’s game, including discussing the play of the likes of Clattenburg, who blocked numerous shots in the third period and Fantino, among a number of others.

Dean called Fantino’s third period goal, which was ultimately the game winner, “massive.”

“I’ve been challenging Julian all year and that’s no secret because it shows in who’s in the lineup and who isn’t,” Dean said. “Now that he’s had an opportunity to play and play on a consistent basis and play a critical role, he’s starting to show just what he’s made of.”

Kitchener coach Jussi Ahokas said following the game that the Greyhounds were opportunistic in the third period of the game.

“We had our chances, really good chances, and we didn’t score” Ahokas said in an interview with RogersTV. “There were mistakes (defensively) and they scored. They used their chances and we didn’t use ours.”

Kitchener wasted little time opening the scoring as Adrian Misaljevic scored on a rebound to the left of the net after Greyhounds starter Charlie Schenkel made a save in tight on Trent Swick initially 37 seconds into the game.

The Greyhounds tied the game just under seven minutes in as Tate Vader picked up his first OHL goal. The rookie forward took a pass in the right faceoff circle and beat Kitchener goaltender Jackson Parsons after Clattenburg circled the net with the puck and fed the Greyhounds forward in the circle.

The Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead thanks to a shorthanded marker from Alex Kostov. Kostov beat Parsons from the right circle after a turnover by Rangers defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz from the left corner at 16:06.

Swick tied the game in the second period as he scored on a rebound in close after Schenkel stopped Misaljevic from the right circle initially at 8:31,

Swick then hit Tanner Lam with a back-door pass to give the Rangers the lead at 10:59.

The Greyhounds tied the game late in the period on the power play as Justin Cloutier redirected a pass at the edge of the crease on a pass by Brenden Sirizzotti with 1:04 to go in the frame.

The Greyhounds retook the lead in the third period when Brady Martin hit a late-arriving Fantino in the Kitchener zone. Fantino proceeded to beat Parsons with a shot from the high slot stick side at 5:45.

The Greyhounds added to the lead 51 seconds later when Sirizzotti’s initial redirection attempt at the top of the crease of a Matthew Virgilio was unsuccessful, but the overage forward scored on his second chance to make it 5-3.

Another shorthanded goal by the Greyhounds made it a 6-3 game at 9:52 of the third. Kirill Kudryavtsev took the turnover into the left faceoff circle before beating Parsons.

Sirizzotti finished the night with a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds offensively while Jack Beck added a pair of helpers.

Schenkel stopped 23 shots in the victory.

Misaljevic and Swick paced the Rangers offensively with a goal and two assists each in the loss.

Parsons stopped 18 of 24 shots for Kitchener.

The Greyhounds wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of the OHL schedule on Saturday afternoon on the road against the Guelph Storm.

The team will take a six-game winning streak into Saturday and have won nine of their last 10 games.

With Friday’s victory, the Greyhounds improve to 22-8-2-0 on the season and pull to within two points of the Rangers for top spot in the Western Conference with a game in hand.

The Greyhounds also sit seven points ahead of the Saginaw Spirit for top spot in the West Division standings following play on Friday night.

The Spirit, who have three games in hand on the Greyhounds, also won on Friday, beating the Sarnia Sting 2-1 in Sarnia.

The Spirit also play on Saturday in their final game prior to the Christmas break. Saginaw is scheduled to host the Sudbury Wolves.

Kitchener falls to 23-8-2-0 with the loss.