Hounds drop shootout with 67's

The Soo Greyhounds have gotten off to a rough start this season but the team isn't ready to panic.

Backed by a three-goal performance from Lucas Kaspar, the high flying Ottawa 67's defeated the Greyhounds 7-4 in front of 2,256 fans on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gardens to hand the locals their second loss in as many starts.

Despite the slow start, the Greyhounds feel that they are ahead of where they were a year ago and will be able to shake off the disappointing homestand.

The Greyhounds played their second game minus veteran forwards Reg Thomas and Tyler Kennedy. Both sat out their final game from suspensions received for slashing incidents in the preseason.

"Once we get everybody back in the lineup it's going to make a big difference," said Greyhounds head coach Marty Abrams. "It would have been nice to get some points this weekend but these guys are professionals and they know how to handle this. (The players) are not happy with today's outcome but I think we'll be all right.

"We are so much farther ahead right now than we were at this time last year. We want to better last season and it is an everyday process and it's not going to happen overnight.

"I thought we had a great work ethic tonight and the guys were spirited on the bench so I'm more than encouraged with where we're heading."

The Hounds jumped to an early lead just 59 seconds into the contest when Sault native Blair Jarrett fired a rebound on the power play past Ottawa netminder Danny Battochio.

Ottawa answered back with a power play goal of their own at 6:23 when Derek Joslin fired a shot from the point through traffic past Hounds goaltender Jakub Cech.

The 67's grabbed a 2-1 lead at 11:24 when Kaspar beat Cech with a high shot on the power play. Following the goal, Kaspar infuriated the Hounds players with a showboat celebration past the Greyhounds bench and through centre ice.

Hounds defenseman David Jarram dropped his gloves off the draw following the goal and awaited a challenge. Brody Todd answered the call for the 67's and battled Jarram in front of the Hounds bench.

Just over two minutes later, the Hounds again answered on the power play when first round draft pick Ryan McInerney scored his first OHL goal to tie the game at 2-2.

The first period shootout wasn't over as Ottawa regained the lead 3-2 just 1:02 later when Kaspar scored his second of the game while the teams were playing at even strength.

In the second period, Kaspar gave Ottawa a two goal lead with his third marker of the contest just 28 seconds into the frame.

Jarrett brought the Hounds back into the game at the 10:00 mark as he jammed his second of the game past Battochio to trim the 67's lead to 4-3.

But Todd restored Ottawa's two goal lead 32 seconds later when he snuck a shot past Cech for his first of the year.

Hounds defenseman Martin Tuma, who had a strong game, gave the Hounds some life heading into the third period when his point shot found its way through traffic and between the legs of Battochio with 1:08 remaining in the period.

In the third period, Ottawa once again jumped into a two goal lead at 6:06 when Will Colbert beat Cech with a shot from along the boards beside the right faceoff circle. Mark Mancari capped the scoring with a late empty net goal.

"I was happy with our power play today but anytime you get into a run and gun situation with a team like Ottawa it's going to hurt you," said Abrams.

Ottawa, who is being coached for the 30th season by the legendary Brian Kilrea, also felt the absence of key players as three of their top four defenseman in Kyle Wharton, Robbie Lawrance and Elgin Reid were scratched due to injuries.

Battochio made his second start of the season in his return to league after suffering a near-death illness during the middle of last season.

The 18 year-old goaltender suffered a seizure on Christmas morning and was later diagnosed with an arterio-venous malformation, which is a weakening of the artery.

After surgery to repair a vein behind his left eye near the brain, Battochio was forced to miss the remainder of the season to recover.

The Greyhounds return to action on Friday as they begin their first road trip of the season in Kitchener against the Rangers. On Saturday, the Hounds visit the Owen Sound Attack. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on Q104 radio beginning at 7:15 p.m.

Next home action for the locals is Wednesday, Oct. 6 when the Sarnia Sting visit Memorial Gardens for a 7 p.m. start.