Greyhounds not pleased with trip opener

A string of better efforts for the Soo Greyhounds of late ended on Thursday night on the road.

A goal by Jordan Frasca just over five minutes into the third period gave the Windsor Spitfires a 3-2 win over the Greyhounds Thursday at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

Frasca’s goal came just under five minutes after the Greyhounds tied the game early in the final period.

“It was a sloppy game in general,” said Greyhounds Coach John Dean. “I don’t know if either coach would be happy with that game. It seemed like both teams were just waiting for the other team to take over.”

It was a game that the Greyhounds were not pleased with.

“I don’t think our second-effort hockey was there,” Dean also said. “We looked dull.”

Having had some success offensively in recent games, Thursday’s game saw the Greyhounds struggle at times in the Windsor zone.

“As sloppy as we played, we had chances to win that game,” Dean said.

“Off the rush we created a lot,” said Greyhounds captain Barrett Hayton. “In zone, (Windsor) did a good job of shutting us down. We didn’t create nearly enough, and our second efforts are what caused that.”

“We’re not happy with that game,” Hayton also said.

Greyhounds goaltender Matthew Villalta made 32 saves.

“Matt was fantastic,” Dean said. “We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes, especially in the third period when we were trying to create chances.”

Keeghan Howdeshell and Ryan Roth completed the scoring for the Greyhounds.

Morgan Frost assisted on both Greyhounds goals.

Frasca finished the night with a pair of goals for Windsor. Daniel D’Amico also scored for the Spitfires.

Goaltender Michael DiPietro stopped 29 shots for Windsor.

The Greyhounds fall to 15-7-4-1 but remain in top spot in the OHL’s West Division, four points ahead of the Saginaw Spirit. Windsor improves to 13-12-1-1.

The Greyhounds return to action on Saturday night in Saginaw against the Spirit before wrapping up the weekend with a matinee game in Flint on Sunday against the Firebirds.

In other action around the league on Thursday night, in St. Catharines, Akil Thomas and Jason Robertson had goal and three assists each as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Owen Sound Attack 6-1. Philip Tomasino had a pair of goals and set up another for Niagara.

In Peterborough, Hunter Jones made 30 saves as the Peterborough Petes beat the North Bay Battalion 4-1. Erik Cermak had a goal and an assist for Peterborough. Cole Fraser and Declan Chisolm assisted on two goals each for the Petes.

In Saginaw, Ivan Prosvetov stopped 39 shots as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Sarnia Sting 2-1. Cole Perfetti’s goal 4:25 of the third period was the game-winning goal.

In Barrie, Jacob Tortora scored three times as the Barrie Colts beat the Mississauga Steelheads 4-2. Joey Kean assisted on a pair of goals for Barrie.