Hounds loss 'a tough pill to swallow'

The disappointment was evident as the Soo Greyhounds players slowly trickled from their dressing room following their Wednesday night matchup with the London Knights.

They had just completed a hard fought night and all they had to show for it was a 3-2 defeat.

Thanks to a last minute goal by Sergei Kostitsyn, his second goal of the night, the Knights skated away with the victory. The goal spoiled a solid effort by the Hounds who, despite being outshot by the Knights by a 35-32 margin, did manage to get some quality scoring chances on the night.

The two teams traded four first period goals in the penalty-filled contest as fans thought they were seeing a sign of things to come when they found themselves tied at two after just 20 minutes.

A Ryan Kitchen goal at 6:34 opened the scoring for the Hounds although the lead was extremely short-lived as Kostitsyn scored his first goal of the night just 23 seconds later. Dylan Hunter got the Knights a 2-1 lead at 11:30 of the period, beating Hounds goaltender Kyle Gajewski, who had a solid night.

After a bit of a lull in the action, the Hounds got back on even terms when Matt Lyall picked up his second point of the period when he beat Knights goaltender Adam Dennis with just 33 seconds remaining.

A second period that produced over 30 minutes in penalties led to a scoreless frame and set the stage for Kostitsyn's game winner in the game's waning moments.

"It was a tough loss for the kids," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. "We're trying to look at the positive things for our kids and get ourselves ready to play on Friday night now. It's a tough pill to swallow but our kids did some good things. They killed penalties great.

"I think we're all disappointed with what happened at the end," Hartsburg continued. "We talked about it in Saginaw the other night. We did a lot of good things and you just want these kids to get rewarded for it. This is part of growing, especially for our younger players, they've got to learn from this and come back and be good on Friday night."

The Hounds managed to hold the Knights power play, which entered the game clicking at a rate of nearly 31 per cent, to no goals in eight attempts. The Greyhounds finished the night one-for-10 on the power play.

"We didn't give a whole lot," said Hartsburg. "Schremp had a lot of shots from the side but I don't think they created a lot of scoring chances on it (the power play). It was good because (London) is really good on the power play."

Hartsburg was pleased with the play of Kyle Gajewski in goal as the veteran netminder is returning to the form that had Hounds fans excited about the locals goaltending future last season.

On top of a solid effort from Gajewski, Hartsburg also complimented the line of Matt Lyall, Ryan Kitchen, and Jacob Lalonde and called that line "one of our best at times."

The Greyhounds now prepare for a pair of weekend home games against Eastern Conference opponents.

On Friday, former Greyhounds Chris Lawrence and Josh Day make their return to Sault Ste. Marie as members of the Mississauga IceDogs. Start time for that contest is 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday night former Greyhound Andrew Gibbons makes his return as the Belleville Bulls make their only appearance at Memorial Gardens in a 7 p.m. start.