The Soo Greyhounds have found themselves in the drivers seat in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference playoff race.
Thanks to a victory over the Oshawa Generals and an Erie Otters loss to the Ottawa 67's, the Greyhounds have moved seven points ahead of the Otters for the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.
The Hounds scored three power play goals en route to a 6-3 victory over the Generals in front of a crowd of 3,648 spectators at Memorial Gardens. Thanks to a solid performance from David Kuchejda, as well as team captain Tyler Kennedy, the Greyhounds used a three-goal third period to ice the win.
The Greyhounds fell behind early when Phil McIlhone gave the Generals a 1-0 lead at 5:04 of the first period. The goal held up until Tyler Kennedy hit the 20 goal plateau with just nine second remaining in the frame, knotting the game at one.
A second period goal by Ryan Kitchen at 8:12 gave the Hounds their first lead of the night, but it was short-lived as rookie-phenom John Tavares scored a shorthanded breakaway goal, with the Generals two men short, to tie the game at 13:09.
Hounds defenceman Josh Godfrey gave the Hounds another lead to work with when he fired a point shot past Generals goaltender Kevin Couture on the power play at 14:33.
The Greyhounds then broke the game open early in the third period when Kuchejda and Andrew Desjardins scored 13 seconds apart in the opening minute of the period, giving the Hounds a 5-2 lead.
Kuchejda capped off the Hounds scoring midway through the period with another power play goal, the second of the night and fifth in two games for the Hounds.
Tavares capped off his solid performance with another shorthanded goal later in the period to complete the scoring.
"We seem to be getting some confidence offensively when we play tenacious," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. "We create shots and we're getting second shots. We just have to continue that. It's nice to see the puck go in the net for them tonight.
"It wasn't pretty," Hartsburg added, "but we found a way to keep going. It was a close hockey game and we weren't perfect. In the third period I thought we were very determined to make sure that we got the two points."
Another positive for the Greyhounds was the play of David Kuchejda, named the game's first star as he posted a pair of goals. Kuchejda's father was also in town to see the game.
"As this year has gone on, the more comfortable he's gotten," Hartsburg said of the forward. "He's just become a real infectious player, not only for the team, but for the fans. He competes, he has a great personality and he's been a good player for us in the second half."
The Greyhounds cap off their current six-game homestand on Wednesday night with a game against the Saginaw Spirit. Game time is 7 p.m. After going on the road for a game on Friday in Sudbury, the locals return home for a game with the Plymouth Whalers the following Sunday.
*** AROUND THE OHL:
AT PETERBOROUGH: A goal and two assists by Liam Reddox led the Peterborough Petes to a 5-1 victory over the Mississauga IceDogs. Petes goaltender David Shantz stopped 34 shots while Justin Caruana added a pair of assists.
AT SAGINAW: Tom Pyatt had two goals and an assist to lead the Saginaw Spirit to a 4-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting. Sting goaltender Ryan Nie stopped 40 shots in the loss while his counterpart, Ryan Daniels of Saginaw, stopped 28.
AT BELLEVILLE: Third period goals by John Hughes, Cory Tanaka and Shawn Matthias paced the Belleville Bulls to a 4-1 win over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. Sebastian Dahm stopped 27 shots for the Bulls.
AT PLYMOUTH: Dylan hunter scored the lone shootout goal as the London Knights skated out of Plymouth with a 3-2 victory over the Whalers. Rob Schremp had a goal and an assist while goaltender Adam Dennis stopped 41 shots. Plymouth goaltender Justin Peters stopped 45.
AT OWEN SOUND: Matt Auffrey scored a pair of goals to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. David Lomas added a pair of assists for the Rangers. Oen Sound goaltender Michael Ouzas stopped 37 shots.
AT ERIE: Brett Liscomb had two third period goals while Matt Lahey had the other as the Ottawa 67's came from behind to beat the Erie Otters 3-2. 67's goaltender Danny Battochio stopped 32 shots while Josh Disher stopped 31 in the Otters goal.
AT BARRIE: Peder Skinner, Chris Stewart and Cory Emmerton had a goal and an assist each to lead the Kingston Frontenacs to a 4-3 victory over the Barrie Colts. Bobby Hughes and Todd Griffith added two assists each for Kingston. Frontenacs goaltender Danny Tayloer stopped 42 shots in the win.