Greyhounds grab four of six points on the road

The Soo Greyhounds may have ended their three-game road trip with a tough loss but still returned home with four of a possible six points.

On Sunday afternoon in Saginaw, the Hounds concluded their swing with a 5-4 loss to the Spirit in overtime.

Gaining the point with the overtime loss allowed the Hounds to grab sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference by a single point over the Erie Otters, who hold a game in hand.

With the score tied at 4-4 with under a minute to play in regulation time, the Greyhounds found themselves in penalty trouble.

Brad Good took a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck into the crowd with 33 seconds left and then Kyle Gajewski took another delay of game call just nine seconds into overtime to give the Spirit a five-on-three advantage.

The power play set the stage for Jesse Gimblett's game winner 40 seconds into the extra frame.

Gimblett's goal was his second of the game to go with three assists for a five point effort. Sault product Zack Torquato, Michal Birner and Scott Fletcher also scored for the Spirit. Patrick McNeill picked up three assists.

Josh Godfrey and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Greyhounds on the power play, Dustin Jeffrey added a goal and an assist while Ryan Kitchen also scored. Scott Restoule and Cody Thornton each recorded a pair of assists.

Kyle Gajewski stopped 22 of 27 shots in goal for the loss while Spirit counterpart Ryan Daniels blocked 37 of 41 shots for the win.

The Greyhounds begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday at Memorial Gardens against the London Knights at 7 p.m. On Friday, the Mississauga IceDogs visist at 7:30 p.m. and Belleville Bulls hit town on Sunday at 7 p.m.