They fought through some inconsistencies and got what they wanted in the end.
The Soo Greyhounds wrapped up the road portion of its Ontario Hockey League exhibition schedule on Thursday night with a 5-2 win over the Sarnia Sting at the Chatham Memorial Arena.
It was a game that the Greyhounds will return home from looking to make some adjustments.
“We could have been much better tonight,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “We were sloppy and gave up too many good chances against. We did some good things too. We scored five, including an empty netter but we need to be better in our own end. We need to be better managing the puck.
“We mis-managed the puck a little bit but we also battled through a tough scenario and there were times in the game where we looked really sharp,” Dean added. “It was a classic exhibition game where there were some really good parts and some parts where we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Calling the rink in Chatham a tough rink to play in, Dean credited the Greyhounds for their ability to find a way to win.
“We found a way to win in a tough game as far as I’m concerned,” Dean said. “It was a sloppy win but there are some positives as well.”
The Greyhounds ability to capitalize on scoring chances was a key point in picking up the win.
“As a group, we were pretty inconsistent,” Dean said. “We capitalized on some opportunities because we are a good team and we do things well. We can score, but I don’t think on a consistent basis, anybody brought 60 minutes.”
Overage forward Jaden Peca scored a pair of goals while Tye Kartye had a goal and two assists. Marc Boudreau and Jaromir Pytlik also scored for the Greyhounds. Dominic Mufarreh also had a pair of assists.
Sophomore goaltender Ethan Taylor got the start in goal and stopped 25 shots with the lone two goals coming by way of penalty shots.
“I thought Ethan was good,” Dean said. “He battled through some second opportunities for Sarnia. He maybe needs to work on controlling the puck a little better but when he didn’t have rebound control, he battled really well.”
Marek Berka, late in the second period, and Jacob Perreault, midway through the third period, completed the Sarnia scoring.
Sting netminder Cameron Lamour made 21 saves.
The Greyhounds scored a pair of power play goals in the win and while it may not have been perfect at times, there were things to build on.
“I really liked our puck movement,” Dean said. “I liked our intent to the net. I liked our ability to win faceoffs and our ability to attempt to score off the rush.”
The Greyhounds dressed five defencemen in the contest as veteran Holden Wale sat the game out due to illness. Forward Brett Jacklin moved back on the blueline to take Wale’s spot in the lineup.
The Greyhounds wrap up exhibition action on Sunday afternoon at home against the Sudbury Wolves. Puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens is set for 2:07 p.m.
In other action around the OHL on Thursday night, in Barrie, Jet Greaves made 31 saves as the Barrie Colts beat the Niagara IceDogs 5-2. A pair of empty net goals sealed the win in the final minutes of the game after Niagara scored its two goals 43 seconds apart midway through the third period to turn a 3-0 game into a one-goal contest.
In other league news on Thursday, a pair of trades were completed, including one involving an overage defenceman.
The Niagara IceDogs dealt veteran defenceman Jacob Paquette to the Peterborough Petes.
In return, the IceDogs received four draft picks. Peterborough sent a second round pick in 2021 (originally London’s), third round picks in 2020 (originally Kingston’s) and 2021, and a fifth round pick in 2021 to Niagara in the deal.
Thursday's other deal saw the Owen Sound Attack send goaltender Andrew MacLean to the Oshawa Generals for a fifth round pick in 2021 (originally Kingston’s).