Greyhounds ground Spitfires

The Soo Greyhounds turned up the offense in the third period and skated out of the Windsor Arena with a victory over the hometown Spitfires.

Three third period goals broke a 3-3 tie and lifted the Hounds to a 6-4 win.

The game marked the Hounds first on the road this season and the first stop on a three-game swing. On Friday, the Hounds face the Plymouth Whalers at 7:30 p.m. before heading to London for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday.

Jacob Lalonde's first goal of the year gave the Hounds an early first period lead but the Spitfires answered with two power plays from Ryan Garlock to take a 2-1 lead late in the frame.

Kyle Wharton and Cody Thornton scored power play goals for the Hounds in the second period while Cory McGillis also scored with the man advantage for Windsor.

In the third period, the Greyhounds took control as David Kuchejda and Jason Pitton scored 1:15 apart for a 5-3 lead. David Lomas' power play goal with 7:51 remaining gave the Spitfires some life that was quickly taken away by Ryan Kitchen, who scored just 17 seconds later.

Kuchejda, who was named the game's first star, also recorded a pair of assists while Pitton and Kitchen added one each. Brett Liscumb set up a pair for the Spitfires and Garlock another.

Kyle Gajewski picked the win in goal for the Greyhounds, who improve to 2-1 on the season, by stopping 30 of 34 shots. Kyle Knechtel took the loss for Windsor blocking 30 of 36 shots.

In all, 18 minor penalties were called by both referees with the Hounds converting on two of seven power play opportunities and the Spitfires scoring four times on 10 chances.

*** DIAS SCORES HIS FIRST:

Sault Ste. Marie product Matt Dias scored his first Ontario Hockey League goal on Thursday night for the Sudbury Wolves in a 9-3 loss to the Barrie Colts, who feature local defenseman Nick Plastino.

Dias, a draft pick from the Soo Thunderbirds, scored in the second period on the power play.

In Guelph, Kelsey Wilson and Matt D'Agostini each assisted in the Storm's 4-2 win over the defending Memorial Cup champion London Knights.