Hounds battle Kingston to a draw

It was a bit of déjà vu for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday night against the Kingston Frontenacs.

In a similar fashion to their game one week previous against the Guelph Storm, the Greyhounds opened up a 2-0 lead only to see it slip away and have to settle for a 2-2 tie.

The big difference in the Kingston game was that the Hounds had numerous chances to ice the game.

A tremendous performance by Kingston goaltender Dayne Davis got Kingston the tie as the veteran stopped 51 shots to allow Kingston to escape Sault Ste. Marie with a single point.

The Greyhounds opened the game with a pair of goals in the first period and had a number of other chances as they peppered Davis with 25 shots in the period.

Matt Puntureri opened the scoring for the Greyhounds at 7:35 before Blair Jarrett scored in the final minute of the period on a one-timer from the slot after a perfect feed from Andrew Desjardins.

A pair of fights opened the second period as Jason Pitton of the Hounds and Justin Wallingford of the Frontenacs did battle just 14 seconds into the frame before Brad Staubitz and Frontenacs forward Todd Griffith tangled just over two minutes later.

With the teams back to playing hockey, the Frontenacs pulled to within one goal when Chris Stewart, brother of Anthony who is a Florida Panther draft pick and current member of the Frontenacs, beat Hounds starter Kyle Gajewski at 7:51.

The Hounds had two glorious chances to pull ahead later in the period but a glove save by Davis on Tyler Kennedy and Jeff Carter hitting the post while the Greyhounds were a man short kept the score at 2-1.

In the third period the Frontenacs used a power play midway through the period to knot the game up at 2-2. Radek Smolenak took a feed from Ben Shutron and one-timed a shot past Gajewski.

In overtime, the Greyhounds had a chance to take the extra point when Shutron picked up a slashing penalty at 2:35, prior to which, the Greyhounds had Kingston hemmed into their zone while the penalty was on delay.

After not being able to crack Davis on the power play, Jarrett had a chance to pick up his second goal of the night but slid a loose puck past Davis and through the crease and out the other side in the dying seconds of the game.

The tie for the Greyhounds does mean that they are unbeaten in their last five games which is crucial heading into their upcoming string of games which will see them play seven straight games on the road as they head into the Christmas break.

Their next home action will not be until Dec. 28 and 30 when the Saginaw Spirit and Kitchener Rangers are in town.

With the tie, the Greyhounds improve their record to 12-12-5 which is good for second place in the West Division, two points behind the Windsor Spitfires.

Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg was pleased with the effort of his club on Sunday and he was also pleased that his club was able to create offensive chances although he was disappointed that they could not capitalize.

"I think we played a pretty good game," Hartsburg said. "We battled and created a lot of chances by our work. The positive is that we created a lot of offence but we just couldn't capitalize. We just couldn't find a way to get it in the back of the net.

"We had lots of chances but just didn't have the finish," he added. "Their goalie (Davis) was outstanding."

Hartsburg added that he was pleased with the play of rookie netminder Kyle Gajewski, who, although not nearly as busy as Davis, stopped 29 shots in the tie.

"He did make some good saves for us and it's unfortunate that we didn't get the two points," Hartsburg said. "I liked the way he played the other night and he played well tonight. We had a good effort by everybody."

*** AROUND THE O:

In other OHL action on Sunday, Sault Ste. Marie native Chris Hulit, recently acquired in a trade with Oshawa, scored the winner in overtime as Ottawa defeated Toronto 4-3. Lukas Kaspar also had two goals for Ottawa.

A two goal performance from Tyler Harrison led the Brampton Battalion to a 5-2 victory over the Sudbury Wolves. Wojtek Wolski added two assists in the win while Kevin Couture stopped 35 shots in the Brampton goal.

Owen Sound and Barrie traded first and second period goals as the teams tied 2-2 in Owen Sound. Igor Gongalsky and Jonathan Lehun scored for Owen Sound while Bryan Little and Nathan Martine replied for the Colts.

A two goal performance from David Lomas lifted the Windsor Spitfires to a 2-1 home-ice victory over the Kitchener Rangers. Brad Topping stopped 33 shots in the victory.

A four point performance—two goals and two assists—from Brad Efthimou led the Sarnia Sting to a 5-3 victory over the aforementioned Oshawa Generals. The Sting scored four times in the opening period and never looked back.