The Soo Greyhounds and Guelph Storm entered Friday night's Ontario Hockey League game with one thing on their minds -- top spot, not only in the Western Conference but also in the league.
In the end, the Storm showed why they are one of the top teams in Canada as they rode four first period goals en route to an 8-3 win over the Hounds at Memorial Gardens.
The Storm didn't waste any time opening the scoring as Matt Ryan, who was named the game's first star, beat Hounds starter Kevin Druce with a deke just 41 seconds into the game. Then, at 2:36, former Hound Brett Trudell gave the Storm a 2-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season.
Kyle Spurr gave the Storm a three-goal cushion when he deflected a Martin St. Pierre shot past Druce at 4:42. Ryan Callahan padded the lead to 4-0 at 18:54 when he beat Druce after the Hounds netminder got a piece of his shot before it trickled through and into the net.
The Storm outshot the Hounds 16-2 in the period.
In the second period, Jakub Cech entered the game for the Greyhounds as Druce was given the rest of the night off.
At 13:45 of the second period, St. Pierre picked up his 15th goal of the season to put the Storm up five. Daniel Paille scored on the power play to put the Storm up 6-0 heading into the third period.
In the third, the Hounds mounted a small comeback. After Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn put the Storm up by a touchdown at 7-0, the Hounds then reeled off three goals of their own as Chris Lawrence, Jeff Carter on the power play and Matt Puntureri found the net.
Versteeg-Lytwyn scored his second goal of the evening to cap the scoring.
Greyhounds head coach Marty Abrams was extremely disappointed following the game and said that the opening period was evidence of how the game went for his club.
Abrams said that Guelph's fourth place ranking in the Canadian Hockey League's Top Ten this week, a ranking that saw the Greyhounds in the ninth spot, doesn't mean a whole lot. The rankings aren't needed to say that Guelph's a strong team.
Abrams was happy though with the fact that his club essentially held St. Pierre. The Storm's leader in points with 34 heading into the game wasn't a major factor but did manage to pick up a goal and an assist in the win.
"The first period really told the tale," Abrams said following the loss. "That (the ranking) doesn't mean a whole lot to me. (Guelph) are a good team. I thought we did a good job shutting down St. Pierre."
Abrams went on to say that the lopsided loss was a chance to allow him to rest some of his top players in favour of his younger players.
"It was definitely a good opportunity to give Carter, Dobben and Kennedy a rest."
Abrams added that he didn't have plans to pull his starter Druce in favour of Cech after the third Guelph goal in the opening period because Abrams felt there was no need to.
The coach did not want to bring in Cech right off the bench feeling that putting Cech in at the start of the second period gave the European netminder a good chance to get loose before coming in.
Abrams also hopes that his team shows up to play on Saturday night when the Mississauga IceDogs make their lone appearance at Memorial Gardens this season.
"We'll have to wait and see," Abrams said. "Who knows what team will show up. If we play the way we did tonight, the results will be the same."
In other OHL action on Friday, Dan Sisca had a goal and an assist for Sarnia while Brett Liscomb had a goal and an assist for Windsor as the teams fought to a 3-3 tie. In a penalty filled contest in London, Corey Perry had a goal and two helpers while Gerald Coleman stopped 21 shots as the Knights beat Toronto 8-0.
Third period goals by John Vigilante and Vaclav Meidl gave Plymouth a 4-2 win over Brampton. Kitchener, which scored four unanswered goals in the third period, beat Saginaw 7-6 in overtime on Andre Benoit's game winner while Mike Melinko and Chris Campoli had a goal and assist each as Erie beat Owen Sound 4-1.
Patrick O'Sullivan's two goals weren't enough for Mississauga as Sudbury's Bobby Chaumont scored two of his own in the Wolves 4-3 win over the IceDogs. Brody Todd, Jeremy Akeson and Rodney Bauman scored as Ottawa beat Peterborough 3-2 while Anthony Stewart had a goal and two assists as Kingston topped Belleville 4-1.
In Oshawa, Ben Eager's goal and assist helped the Generals to a 5-2 win over Barrie.