Hounds drown Otters

After a disappointing effort on Friday night against the Ottawa 67's in their home opener, the Soo Greyhounds made some "progress" on Sunday as they defeated the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action at Memorial Gardens.

After a slow start to the opening period, Tyson Aitcheson gave the Greyhounds a much needed lift when his point shot on a man advantage found its way past Jhase Sniderman and into the Erie goal for a 1-0 Hounds lead after one period.

The second period, uneventful from a goals scored standpoint, was exciting for the fans as Kyle Gajewski made a number of key saves at different points during the period to keep the score at 1-0. Gajewski, who wasn't busy for the most part, came up big when he had to.

"He made a couple huge saves in the second period," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. "For the most part I don't think we gave up a lot of quality stuff, but in the second period there were a couple of plays there where he completely robbed (the shooter)."

In the third period, the Hounds opened up a 2-0 lead when Chris Lawrence scored just 1:17 in as he knocked in his own rebound past Sniderman. Then, at 2:48, the Otters cut the lead in half when Vince Scott slid a shot past Gajewski to make the score 2-1.

Not long after, with the Greyhounds on the man advantage, Jason Pitton converted a feed from Ryan Kitchen to restore the Hounds two goal lead. Ryan McInerney capped off the Hounds scoring with his second of the season at 11:37 as the Hounds improve to 1-1 on the season.

Gajewski stopped 34 shots for the victory while Sniderman stopped 27 in the loss for the Otters.

"We're still trying to find ourselves as a team," Hartsburg said following the win. "There's lots of new kids, lots of young kids that are taking that next step. There's still a process for them to get comfortable.

"We did some good things," Hartsburg continued. "We just have to keep learning how to be a smart team with the puck. In the third period with the game on the line, we were smarter with the puck. We're just a team that has to find ways every day to get better."

Aside from Gajewski, Hartsburg was particularly pleased with the play of Lawrence.

"In the third period Chris Lawrence had some really big shifts," Hartsburg said of the third year pivot. "Hopefully that's just the tip for Chris. He finished some big checks, he took the puck to the net."

The Hounds now prepare to play three games in four days on the road next weekend with games in Windsor on Thursday, Plymouth on Friday and London on Sunday. Next home action will be on Oct. 5th, when the Sarnia Sting make their first visit to Memorial Gardens this season.

*** AROUND THE O:

AT KINGSTON: Bobby Hughes had a pair of goals and an assist as Kingston defeated Mississauga 5-3. Ben Shutron added a goal and an assist while Cory Emmerton also chipped in with a pair of assists. Jordan Owens and Michael Swift each had a goal and two assists for Mississauga

AT SUDBURY: Elgin Reid had three goals while Julian Talbot added a pair of assist as the Ottawa 67's defeated the Sudbury Wolves 4-3. Danny Battochio stopped 29 shots for the victory.

AT TORONTO: Ryan Hamilton had three goals and Mike Roelofsen assisted on all three as the Barrie Colts defeated the St. Michael's Majors 4-2. Dan LaCosta stopped 43 shots for the victory.

AT GUELPH: Evan McGrath scored three times and added an assist as Kitchener defeated Guelph 6-3. Yves Bastien added a pair of assists. Sault native Kelsey Wilson scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the loss.

(All photos courtesy of Jim Egan.)