Hounds strike early to deflate Spirit

You can use any analogy you want to describe the Soo Greyhounds victory on Wednesday night but, in the end, the only thing that really matters is the end result, a victory.

The Greyhounds took a 2-0 lead before the game was two minutes old and skated to a 4-1 victory over the Saginaw Spirit in front of a crowd of over 3,300 at Memorial Gardens.

The win took on added meaning after the Erie Otters disposed of the Owen Sound Attack 2-1 in overtime to keep pace with the Greyhounds in the Western Conference playoff race.

Thanks to a pair of goals by Tyler Kennedy 35 seconds apart in the first period, the Greyhounds had all the offense they would need on the night. Kennedy opened the scoring at the one minute mark before giving the Hounds a two-goal lead just 35 seconds later.

Veteran forward Andrew Desjardins added to the lead late in the period with his eleventh goal of the season at 18:26.

Sault Ste. Marie native Zack Torquato cut into the Hounds lead at 7:11 of the second period, but it was the only offense the Spirit could generate, despite a solid second period. After sitting back in the second period, allowing the Spirit to gain some momentum, the Greyhounds sealed the victory when a Josh Godfrey point shot found its way past Spirit netminder Francois Thuot on the power play.

The goal capped off an important victory for the Hounds, who now remain seven points ahead of the ninth-place Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference.

The Otters will have a chance to gain some ground on the Greyhounds as they are in Barrie to face the Colts on Thursday night, although the game would leave the Greyhounds with a game in hand. That game in hand would take place on Friday night when the Greyhounds visit Sudbury.

"We had a great start and that's the thing," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. In the last few games we had great third periods but we wanted to have a better start tonight and Tyler (Kennedy) as our captain set the tone for us.

"He set the tone for our team," Hartsburg added. "I thought in the second period we were a little bit lackadaisical. In the third period I thought we buckled down and checked. We didn't create a lot (offensively) but we didn't make many mistakes. We can't open up against that team (Saginaw). I think our kids, when they play that tenacious type of game, gain confidence offensively and get scoring chances five-on-five."

The win also moves the Greyhounds to within five points of the Windsor Spitfires and six points of the Plymouth Whalers, although both teams have games in hand on the Hounds – Windsor one and Plymouth two.

Windsor's next game is set for Thursday night at home against the Kitchener Rangers while Plymouth does not take the ice until Friday night when they face Saginaw at home.

"They seem to enjoy the situation they're in," Hartsburg said of the team's current situation. "Every game is like a playoff game. We have to keep buckling down every night to do the little things right. They have to continue to take pride in (their work ethic). If we don't have twenty guys working as hard as they can work, we're not going to have any success."

Hartsburg went on to comment about the length of the homestand, specifically with the fact that he was pleased his team got better as it went on.

"In some ways it's hard to have that many home games in a row," Hartsburg said. "You almost get to the point where you take things for granted. We got better in this homestand, which is good because I've seen teams get worse as the homestand goes on."

After a road game in Sudbury on Friday, the Greyhounds prepare for another game on home ice on Sunday as they face the Plymouth Whalers in a 7 p.m. start.

*** AROUND THE OHL:

AT OWEN SOUND: Andrew Hotham scored 27 seconds into overtime to give the Erie Otters a 2-1 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Vince Scott tied the game for the Otters at 14:57 of the third period to send the game to overtime. Erie goaltender Josh Disher had a busy night stopping 36 shots in the win.

AT BELLEVILLE: The London Knights scored a pair of power play goals to defeat the Belleville Bulls 2-0. Sergei Kostitsyn and Dylan Hunter scored for the Knights while goaltender Adam Dennis stopped 28 shots for the shutout.