Hounds edge 67’s 3-2

By Kathryn Jean

Nick Halagian scored his first OHL career goal to help lead the Soo Greyhounds to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa 67’s.

The 67’s flew out of the gate early.  Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring with a high shot in the slot over the newly acquired Jack Campbell.  That marked Toffoli’s 15th of the season. 


With Dalton Smith in the box for delay of the game (the first of four on the night), Tyler Graovac picked up a puck that rebounded off Nicholas Foglia.  He skated in untouched and fired a high shot past Campbell on the short side for an early two goal lead.

The Hounds responded with two quick goals.  Nick Cousins deked out Petr Mrazek to get the Hounds on the board.  Only 25 seconds later, Brett Findlay wired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle and got the puck past a screened Mrazek to tie the game at 2.

The two quick goals seemed to kill the 67’s momentum as they things got a little sloppy after the first period.  Tyler Toffoli got one of the 67’s best chances in the second period beating Campbell in close but hitting the puck off the crossbar.  Play carried the other way and Halagian picked up the eventual game winning goal beating Mrazek short side on a goal he certainly would like to have back.

The Hounds ran into some penalty trouble off of some undisciplined plays, but the Hounds managed to kill off three straight penalty kills in the third period.  Both goaltenders played solid at their ends of the ice.  The 67’s turned it up in the last half of the period but couldn’t solve Campbell.  With the goaltender pulled and 5 seconds left, Toffoli had the best opportunity to tie the game, but rang it off the post. 

NOTES:  Gianluca Curcuruto was a late scratch after sustaining a bad charley horse versus Kingston … Shane Prince and Jake Cardwell ended their 6 game point streak after being held pointless today … Chris Byrne tried to switch up the lines to create some offense by demoting Shane Prince and Sean Monahan and moving up Tyler Graovac and Dalton Smith to the first line to replace them.

Click here to see the game sheet.




Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67's: Jake Cardwell

Random Thoughts from Behind the Lens:

• How a team control the puck for so much of the game and yet be so ineffective with it? The Greyhounds did a good job of keeping Ottawa to the outside letting them cycle pretty much at will but not letting them get anything in close. And once Campbell found his groove, nothing was going to get by him.
  
• The last three games have seen inconsistent play from the team - none of the games have been solid 60 minutes of play. They'll need to address this to reach their potential.
  
• There were some terrific individual efforts out there today. Cardwell was tagged as the 67's hardest working 67's by the Team1200 but I thought Dubois also had great game. And Foglia played hard and fast as always.
  
• The annual wiener dog race was held in the second intermission. Always a fan favourite. But those little critters are hard to photograph as they bolt down the ice!
  
• There was a young family behind me, parents and two young sons. It was their first 67's game. Why dads bring their young kids to games - they can't get away with having that much fun without the kids. It was great to watch.
  
• The next game is the third annual school game day. The 67's have yet to win this loud, boisterous affair. They play Kingston at 10:30 Monday morning.
  

Pictures from the game:
A contestant in the wiener dog race - think this little fella won   Tyler Graovac's SHG   Hit by Janes in the offensive zone allowed Ottawa to regain control    

Click here to see more pictures.