“There’s no doubt in my mind we have a team that can come back, no matter what the score.”
The Soo Greyhounds proved that thought from Coach Drew Bannister on Friday night in Mississauga at the Hershey Centre. Thanks to a four-goal third period, the Greyhounds beat the Mississauga Steelheads 5-3 in one of nine Ontario Hockey League games on Friday.
Trailing 3-1 to open the final period, Morgan Frost scored 55 seconds into the frame on the power play to begin the Greyhounds comeback.
“Once we started getting going there in the third we were really good,” Bannister said.
Bannister would credit the power play early in the third period that ultimately resulted in the Frost goal in getting the comeback started for the Greyhounds.
“They challenged themselves to get our group going and created a lot of time in the offensive zone and got some good looks,” Bannister said. “A bounce went our way and ended up in the back of the net. It really got us going and put Mississauga back on their heels.”
Bannister wasn’t pleased with the opening 40 minutes but credited the Greyhounds for battling back in the third period.
“In the first two periods, we didn’t play good hockey and the kind of hockey we usually play. We were a little bit frustrated at times but there are going to be games where you have to grind it out and teams are going to be tough on you,” Bannister said. “Mississauga was physical against us and we decided to put our work boots on and grind it out in the third.”
Frost finished the night with a goal and two assists to pace the Greyhounds offensively. Zach Senyshyn added a goal and an assist. Boris Katchouk, Liam Hawel and Bobby MacIntyre also scored for the Greyhounds.
Senyshyn, Katchouk and MacIntyre each extended their respective point streaks to six games, which coincides with the Greyhounds winning streak of the same length.
Goaltender Joseph Raaymakers stopped 29 shots for the Greyhounds. The veteran netminder is expected to get the start in Sunday’s road trip finale.
Brendan Harrogate scored a pair of goals for the Steelheads while Owen Tippett also scored.
Mississauga goaltender Matthew Mancina stopped 34 shots.
The Steelheads were hoping the return of sophomore defenceman Vili Saarijarvi would be a boost after the Finnish blueliner missed the opening 22 games of the season. The high-scoring Detroit Red Wings prospect was held off the scoresheet.
With Saarijarvi returning to the lineup, the Steelheads continue to play without overage forward Spencer Watson. The Los Angeles Kings draft pick, who was acquired from the Kingston Frontenacs in early November, remains out due to a wrist injury. He is expected to be out for another month.
The Greyhounds improve to 17-7-1-0 and 12-2-0-0 on the road with the victory. The team remains tied atop the OHL’s West Division standings with the Windsor Spitfires, who also won on Friday night.
Considered a team to beat in the Eastern Conference prior to the start of the season, the Steelheads fall to 6-10-3-3 with the loss.
The Greyhounds wrap up its three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in Oshawa against the Generals. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m.
*****
OTHER GAMES
In Kingston, Nikita Korostelev had the shootout winner as the Sarnia Sting beat the Kingston Frontenacs 4-3. Goaltender Aidan Hughes made 38 saves and stopped all three shooters in the shootout for Sarnia. Troy Lajeunesse had a goal and an assist while Sean Josling and Brady Hinz also scored for the Sting. Jason Robertson had a goal and two assists for Kingston while Eemeli Rasanen and Warren Foegele chipped in with a goal and an assist each.
In St. Catharines, Ryan Mantha had a goal and an assist as the Niagara IceDogs beat the Sudbury Wolves 3-1. Johnny Corneil and Kyle Langdon also scored for the IceDogs. Goaltender Stephen Dhillon made 31 saves. Sudbury goaltender Zack Bowman made 37 saves. Ryan Valentini had the lone goal for the Wolves.
In Ottawa, Connor Corcoran and Cole Carter had a goal and an assist each as the Windsor Spitfires doubled up the Ottawa 67’s 4-2. Logan Stanley and Graham Knott also scored for the Spitfires. Mikhail Sergachev assisted on a pair of goals for Windsor. Ryan Orban and Sasha Chmelevski scored for Ottawa.
In Guelph, James McEwan’s shorthanded goal at 8:07 of the third period was the game-winner as the Guelph Storm beat the Peterborough Petes 2-1. Liam Stevens had the other Guelph goal. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev had the lone Petes goal.
In Hamilton, Steve Harland’s goal at 12:50 of the second period held up as the game-winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2. Harland had a pair of goals for North Bay. Daniil Vertiy had the other goal for the Battalion. Brett McKenzie picked up a pair of assists. MacKenzie Entwistle and Justin Lemcke scored for Hamilton. Adam Laishram assisted on both Bulldogs goals.
In Kitchener, Petrus Palmu had two goals and an assist each as the Owen Sound Attack beat the Kitchener Rangers 6-2. Jonah Gadjovich and Matt Schmalz also scored for Owen Sound. Kevin Hancock, Santino Centorame and Sean Durzi assisted on two Owen Sound goals each. Riley Damiani and Adam Mascherin scored for Kitchener.
In London, Cliff Pu had a goal and an assist as the London Knights beat the Barrie Colts 4-1. Owen MacDonald, Max Jones and Victor Mete also scored for London. Goaltender Tyler Parsons made 29 saves for the Knights. Cordell James had the lone goal for Barrie.
In Oshawa, Jack Studnicka had a goal and two assists as the Oshawa Generals beat the Flint Firebirds 5-3. Mitchell Vande Sompel assisted on three goals for the Generals. Serron Noel, Eric Henderson, Anthony Cirelli and Kenny Huether also scored for Oshawa. Kole Sherwood had a goal and an assist for Flint. Mathieu Henderson picked up a pair of assists. Everett Clark and Jalen Smereck also scored for the Firebirds.
*****
AROUND THE OHL
The Windsor Spitfires will be without highly-touted forward Logan Brown for at least two more weeks per Jim Parker of the Windsor Star.
Parker reported on Friday evening that Brown had an MRI done on his injured wrist in Ottawa on Friday and a swollen tendon will keep him out for the time being.