Hounds drop decision to Spirit

With the seventh seed in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference out of reach, the Soo Greyhounds found themselves in a tough situation when they faced off against the Saginaw Spirit on Friday night.

On one hand, the game meant little in that a win would not move the team at all from their current playoff position. On the other hand, the team would love to be playing well heading into the playoffs against their first round opponent, the London Knights.

If there was any added incentive to be playing well, the game was the second last regular season match to be played at Memorial Gardens, before the team moves into their new digs next season.

The Greyhounds dropped a 4-3 decision to the Spirit on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of over 3,900 at Memorial Gardens.

A Tom Pyatt goal with just over four minutes remaining in regulation time allowed Saginaw to come out with the victory, and keep pace with the Plymouth Whalers in the process. The Whalers and Spirit went into action on Friday night tied atop the West Division standings and both teams came out of Friday night with victories. The two teams will face off on Saturday night in Plymouth to determine the division winner.

Jacob King opened the scoring for the Greyhounds at 5:23 of the opening period only to see Ryan McDonough tie the game just over a minute later. A Jack Combs goal on the power play at 8:16 sent the game into the second period with the Spirit leading 2-1.

Brandon MacLean pulled the Greyhounds back on even terms at 5:14 of the second period. Andrew Desjardins then gave the Greyhounds their second lead of the evening at 11:41 with a power play goal only to see the Spirit come back again.

McDonough scored his second goal of the night at 17:13 of the middle frame to set the stage for the Pyatt game-winner in the third period.

"I thought we tried hard, but I don't think we played real smart," said Hounds bench boss Craig Hartsburg. "In spurts we were really good and in other times we made really bad mistakes. We have to learn that you have to compete in this league for 60 minutes against good teams. I thought we competed, but we didn't do the little things right. I liked the fact that we had energy, but we have to make sure that energy is focused."

Hartsburg did say that one positive to come out of the game was the play of Andrew Desjardins line with Brandon MacLean and Jacob King. Their play allowed them to earn some time playing on the power play as well during the game.

"They were sharp because they did those little things," Hartsburg said of the trio. "They didn't turn pucks over and kept pressure on people. That's the way our whole team has to play. They were really good, all three of them. (On the power play) their line just moved the puck quickly and then shot it. That's all we've been trying to do all year. If they can keep doing it, they'll get power play time right through (the rest of the season)."

The Greyhounds will have one day to prepare before they cap off the regular season with a home date against the Sarnia Sting on Sunday night at 7 p.m.

The game marks the last regular season game at Memorial Gardens as the team moves into the new Sports and Entertainment Centre at the start of next season.

*** PLAYOFF DATES SET:

The dates for the Greyhounds first round playoff series against the London Knights were announced on Friday evening.

GAME 1 Thursday, March 23 @ LONDON, 7:00 p.m. GAME 2 Friday, March 24 @ LONDON, 7:30 p.m. GAME 3 Sunday, March 26 @ SAULT STE. MARIE 7:00 p.m. GAME 4 Tuesday, March 28 @ SAULT STE. MARIE 7:00 p.m. GAME 5 Thursday, March 30 @ LONDON 7:00 p.m. * GAME 6 Saturday, April 1 @ SAULT STE. MARIE 7:30 p.m. * GAME 7 Monday, April 3 @ LONDON 7:00 p.m. *

*= if necessary

*** AROUND THE OHL:

AT SARNIA: The Plymouth Whalers got a three-goal performance from James Neal as they defeated the Sarnia Sting 4-2. Steve Ward added a pair of assists while Justin Peters was not busy in goal as he stopped 14 shots for the Whalers.

AT OTTAWA: Jamie McGinn scored with 30 second left in overtime to give the Ottawa 67's a 5-4 victory over the Oshawa Generals. Logan Couture scored a pair of goals for the 67's. Generals goaltender Carlo DiRienzo stopped 50 shots while Cal Clutterbuck had three goals in the loss.

AT MISSISSAUGA: Graham McNabb scored at 3:51 of overtime to give the Brampton Battalion a 4-3 victory over the Mississauga IceDogs. Battalion goaltender Daren Machesney stopped 41 shots in the victory. Michael Swift had three assists for the IceDogs.

AT LONDON: Patrick Davis scored in a shootout to give the Windsor Spitfires a 5-4 victory over the London Knights. Spitfires goaltender Anthony Guadagnolo stopped 46 shots in the victory. Rob Schremp had a natural hat-trick in the third period to tie the game for the Knights.

AT KITCHENER: Mike Duco and Evan McGrath had three goals each as the Kitchener Rangers routed the Erie Otters 10-0. Dan Turple stopped 23 shots for the shutout while Victor Oreskovich added five assists in the win. Erie goaltender Josh Disher stopped 40 shots in the loss.

AT KINGSTON: Benoit Pouliot was the hero as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the Kingston Frontenacs 4-3 in a shootout. Pouliot scored the lone shootout goal. Anton Hedman had two goals while Pouliot chipped in with two assists for the Wolves. Chris Stewart and Todd Griffith had a goal and two assists each in the loss for Kingston.

AT GUELPH: Jamie Arneil, Matt D'Agostini, and Mike McLean scored third period goals to lead the Guelph Storm to a 3-1 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Mark O'Leary added a pair of assists in the win.