Hounds weather Storm to defeat Guelph

In battling for a playoff spot in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference, the Soo Greyhounds have certainly helped themselves.

Thanks to a 4-2 victory over the Guelph Storm on Friday night at Memorial Gardens, the Greyhounds have a record of 11-6-1-1, including a 5-3-1-1 record over their past 10 games, since Dec. 11.

That stretch has allowed the Greyhounds to climb back into the playoffs after being on the outside looking in for the much of the early part of the season.

The Hounds opened the final stretch of the regular season Friday, a stretch that sees the Greyhounds play 12 of their final 19 games on home ice which began with the victory over Guelph. The final 18 games will see the Hounds face 11 Western Conference opponents.

Friday saw the Greyhounds take an important step towards clinching a playoff spot, which may still be some time off but every point from here on in is an important one, as they scored a pair of power play goals en route to a victory.

A first period power play marker by former Guelph Storm defenceman Josh Godfrey got the ball rolling for the Hounds early in the opening period.

David Kuchejda put the Greyhounds ahead by a pair of goals in the opening minute of the second period. Although Tyler Doig pulled the Storm to within one midway through the period, Cody Thornton restored the two-goal cushion with another power play marker at 14:38.

Thornton then sealed the victory at 7:22 of the third period when he converted a cross-crease pass from Dustin Jeffrey, who had a pair of assists in the victory as did Tyler Kennedy.

Sault native Kelsey Wilson capped off the Storm scoring at 19:17.

"It was a good, solid effort by everybody," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. "(Guelph) has some high end guys but we played a good team game. We just have to stay with it and when we make the game simpler for ourselves we usually play pretty well and we can be a hard, frustrating team to play against."

The game plan through their stretch since early December has been simple.

"We're taking it one day at a time," Hartsburg said. "I told them after the game that we've got 20 minutes to enjoy it then we've got to get ready for (Saturday). We're starting to focus on preparation again and we want to play our best game again tomorrow. That's what we have to try to do is play our best every night."

Hartsburg went on to compliment the play of a pair of his forwards in Tyler Kennedy and David Kuchejda, two players he said "have the same type of style where they have skill and speed and are very tenacious."

Hartsburg added that he was also pleased with the play of Brad Good and Tyler Cuthbert.

"(They've) been our rocks," Hartsburg said. "They're our veteran guys. Along with Solomon, they've been very strong, nothing flashy. They're finding a way to win a battle and get the puck out. We just need them to continue to lead the way back there for us."

The game also marked the return of Jason Pitton and Kyle Wharton to Sault Ste. Marie as the two were part of a trade leading up to the deadline that saw Godfrey and Matt Lyall come to Sault Ste. Marie.

The Hounds will continue their current three-game homestand on Saturday night when they host the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, who feature local product Matt Caria. Game time is 7:30.

The stand will conclude on Tuesday night with a game against the Sarnia Sting at 7 p.m.

*** AROUND THE OHL:

In other Ontario Hockey League action on Friday night:

AT SAGINAW: Ryan McDonough scored at 1:11 of overtime to cap off a thrilling 7-6 victory by the Saginaw Spirit over the Windsor Spitfires. Ryan Berard and Patrick McNeill had two goals each while Chris Chappell, Tyson Gimblett, Matt Corrente, Tim Priamo, and Michal Birner added two assists each for the Spirit. Iain McPhee and Bryan Bickell had two goals each for Windsor. Cal O'Reilly added a goal and two assists while Patrick Davis also had a pair of helpers for Windsor.

AT SUDBURY: Nicholas Tuzzolino scored a power play goal at 3:15 of overtime to give the Sudbury Wolves a 4-3 victory over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. Tuzzolino's two goals spoiled a 47-save performance by Wayne Savage in the St. Michael's goal. Matt Dias also had two goals for Sudbury while Justin Donati had two goals and an assist for the Majors.

AT OTTAWA: Luch Aquino scored a power play goal in overtime to lift the Brampton Battalion to a 2-1 road victory over the Ottawa 67's. Wojtek Wolski had two assists for Brampton while goaltender Daren Machesney stopped 36 shots.

AT MISSISSAUGA: Kevin Lalande stopped 45 shots to help lead the Belleville Bulls to a 7-4 victory over the Mississauga IceDogs. Matt Beleskey had a pair of goals while Matt Kelly had three assists and Nick Pageau had two for Belleville. Josh Day scored a pair of goals for the IceDogs.

AT LONDON: David Bolland scored the lone shootout goal as the London Knights skated away with a 5-4 victory over the Erie Otters. Rob Schremp had two goals and an assist while Josh Beaulieu had two goals for London. Erie goaltender Josh Disher stopped 51 shots while Michael Blunden had two assists in the loss.

AT KITCHENER: Justin Azevedo's two goals paced the Kitchener Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Matt Lashoff, Jakub Kindl and Evan McGrath added two assists each in the win.

AT KINGSTON: Jared Boll's goal at 7:51 of the third period held up as the winner in the Plymouth Whalers' 3-2 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs. Kingston goaltender Danny Taylor stopped 38 shots in the loss.

AT OSHAWA: Greg Stewart scored a pair of goals to lead the Peterborough Petes to a 5-1 win over the Oshawa Generals. Daniel Ryder had a goal and a pair of assists while Steve Downie chipped in with three assists for the Petes.