Hounds win sets playoff date with Saginaw (video)

The Soo Greyhounds finally know where they stand in the Ontario Hockey League's western conference.

After several weeks of scoreboard watching and must-win games, the Greyhounds have slotted themselves into fifth place in the conference.

The Hounds sealed their fate on Friday night at the Steelback Centre with a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory over the powerful Plymouth Whalers as Cody Thornton emerged as the hero with the game winner.

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After dealing with the Sarnia Sting on Saturday night at the Steelback Centre at 7:30 p.m. to close the regular season, the Greyhounds are slated to face the fourth place Saginaw Spirit in the first round of the playoffs.

The best-of-seven conference quarterfinal is scheduled to begin next Friday night in Saginaw.

Game two will follow the next night in Saginaw before the series shifts to the Steelback Centre for games three and four on Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 29.

In the game against Plymouth, both teams were at their defensive best through the first two periods before a few quality chances highlighted the third period of play.

In overtime, Cody Thornton led a rush up ice with Andrew Campbell and finished the pass back across from the Hounds defenseman to give the locals full credit for an honest night's work.

Goaltender Kyle Gajewski was solid in goal, with his best saves coming in the third period, and picked up his third shutout of the season by stopping 26 shots.

Brandon MacLean had a fine game and led the penalty killing unit that was forced to kill five consecutve penalties in the first and second periods.

Defensively, the Hounds received a complete team effort with Brad Good, Tyler Cuthbert and Josh Godfrey anchoring the defensive unit.

Plymouth netminder Michal Neuvirth was also stellar and faced 24 Greyhound shots.

The loss was a tough one for the Whalers to swallow as they are in a dog fight with the London Knights for first place overall in the conference and the league. Plymouth fell a point behind the Knights, who whipped the Erie Otters 9-3.

The Kitchener Rangers are a lock for third spot but their playoff opponent remains unknown as the Guelph Storm and Sarnia Sting are tied for sixth after Guleph lost 4-1 to Windsor and the Sting dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Saginaw.

In the eastern conference, top seeded Barrie will face eighth place Brampton while the other matchups remain undetermined.

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