Hounds cannot shake funk against Spits

The slumping Soo Greyhounds suffered another loss on Friday night as the Windsor Spitfires rode a solid goaltending performance to victory.

Windsor goaltender Matt Anthony, who stopped 25 of 26 shots, stifled the Greyhounds shooters with several big saves throughout as the Spitfires cruised to a 4-1 win in front of 2,443 fans in Ontario Hockey League action at Memorial Gardens on Friday night.

The loss was the Greyhounds sixth straight and puts the team under the .500 mark for the first time since October 11th at 16-17-1-1. The win vaults Windsor into a tie with the Hounds for third place in the West Division.

With a couple of bounces in their favour, the Spitfires took control of the game early and proceeded to ride Anthony through the rest of the game.

Jeff Leavitt was credited with the first Spitfires goal three minutes into the game on a shot directed at the net which deflected off Greyhounds defenseman Martin Tuma's skate and past Kevin Druce.

The Greyhounds suffered another tough break minutes later when Scott Dobben received a pass with a wide open net in sight but the puck was rolling and Dobben couldn't get a good shot off.

Anthony was at his best in the second period where he made four big saves including a huge glove stop on Adam Rhymer, two quick stops on shots by Matt Puntureri in front on the net and another key save on Tyler Kennedy, who drove in down the left wing on a partial break.

"Those were some huge saves for us. We were able to head into the third period with a two goal lead which helped our confidence to hold them off defensively, especially being on the road. When your goalie is the best player on the ice, it gives you a good chance to win." said Spitfires head coach Steve Smith.

Rob Hennigar scored for Windsor, who were held to 18 total shots, in the second frame before Dobben cut the lead to 2-1 in the third period with a power play goal. Darryl Lloyd and Sault native Craig Kennedy on the power play completed the Spitfires scoring.

"I was happy with the effort tonight and if the goalie didn't make a great save off Rhymer then it's a different story," said Greyhounds head coach Marty Abrams. "We played pretty solid and at one point we had given up only 17 shots but they scored three goals."

"I really happy with Puntureri, (Andrew) Desjardins and Rhymer. They were asked to do the job against Hennigar's line and they didn't score against them five-on-five. Overall, the effort was there but we just couldn't score."

Druce was pulled by Abrams with 3:45 remaining in the contest after Windsor's Michael Cox was assessed a goaltender interference penalty after knocking down the goaltender in his crease.

Abrams explained that he made the move feeling that Druce was frustrated and he didn't want to risk any chance of suspensions or misconducts on his number one goaltender.

"I was concerned about him crossing the red line and getting a suspension. We don't need him losing control of his temper or being emotional because he needs to stop the puck and be in the net and we didn't want to take the risk of him getting a suspension," said Abrams.

"I thought he might go across the red line after the ref to dispute a call and I didn't want to take the chance of losing him for a gross misconduct. He is an emotional guy and I was trying to protect him."

The game was the Greyhounds first without captain Jeff Carter, who is currently in tryouts with the Canadian National Junior Team. Should Carter made the team, the first round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers will miss the next eight Greyhound contests.

The Greyhounds conclude their three-game homestand on Sunday against the Owen Sound Attack at 2 p.m.

In other OHL action on Friday with all 20 teams in action, the London Knights used three third period goals to defeat Erie 3-0 while Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn and Ryan Garlock scored twice each as the Guelph Storm doubled the Sarnia Sting 6-3.

Sault native Patrick Jarrett scored for Owen Sound as the Attack edged Sudbury 3-2. Wojtek Wolski scored once and added an assist as Brampton nipped Saginaw 3-2, Barrie and Mississauga skated to a 1-1 tie while Connor Cameron scored once and setup another as Toronto St. Michael's beat Peterborough 4-1.

Peter Tsimikalis scored twice as Ottawa beat Plymouth 3-1, Kingston played Kitchener to a 3-3 draw and Andrew Brown scored twice to lead Belleville past Oshawa 6-5.