It may have only been an exhibition game but the Soo Greyhounds were more than happy to leave with a win.
Backed by a two goal performance from Hounds captain Jeff Carter, the Greyhounds defeated the Sudbury Wolves 3-2 in Ontario Hockey League exhibition play in front of 1,625 fans at Memorial Gardens.
Both teams dressed several veteran players including two overages each.
"Each team had 12 or 13 veterans in the lineup tonight so it wasn't really a true exhibition. We only have four exhibition games and we want to get those vets in there so it was pretty close to OHL calibre tonight," said Greyhound head coach Marty Abrams.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring 3:20 into the contest as local product Blair Jarrett knocked the puck past Wolves goaltender Darren Rowlandson on a feed from Reg Thomas and Jeff Larsh.
Sudbury answered back at the 6:01 mark when Mike Mills beat Jakub Cech to tie the score at 1-1.
In the second period, Carter restored their one goal lead by tipping Thomas feed past Wolves goaltender Kevin Beech, who took over the netminding chores to begin the frame.
Cech, who played the entire game, maintained the lead minutes later by stopping Wolves overage sniper Bobby Chaumont on a penalty shot. Chaumont was awarded the shot after being hauled down while barreling in on Cech.
Carter upped the lead to 3-1 with another power play marker at 11:34 when he lifted the puck over the right shoulder of Beech.
In the third period, Jordan Prevost fired a high shot past Cech to cut the Greyhounds lead to 3-2.
Despite a solid effort by the Wolves in pressing for the equalizer, Cech made several big stops down the stretch to seal the win.
The Wolves outshot the Greyhounds 27-25.
"I thought Brandon MacLean was outstanding tonight and he worked hard and killed a lot of penalties for us," said Abrams. "Josh Day had a good day on the back end and those are two young guys that really stuck out in my mind."
The teams will battle in the second of four preseason meetings between the two clubs on Sunday night in Sudbury beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Hounds then travel again to Sudbury next Friday before returning to Memorial Gardens for their final exhibition game on Sunday, September 19 at 7 p.m.
*** TURANO RELEASED:
The Soo Greyhounds trimmed their preseason roster by one this past week as invite defenseman Felice Turano was released.
"With the development of (Tyler) Cuthbert, Day and (Tyler) McKinley there isn't enough room for a 19 year-old rookie defenseman. It had nothing to do with his play but we feel comfortable with the development of our young guys," said Abrams.
*** OHL NAMES NEW CHIEF SCOUT:
Hamilton native Robert Kitamura was named as the OHL Central Scouting Bureau's new chief scout on Friday.
Kitamura joins the league office after a six-year stint with the Barrie Colts, including the last four as head scout.
The OHL's Scouting Bureau consists of 13 part-time scouts covering the areas of Ontario, Newfoundland, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Kitamura replaces Bill Needham, who served in the role for the past six seasons.
PHOTO: Reg Thomas battles for position in front of Wolves goaltender Kevin Beech.