Three goals from the stick of captain Jeff Carter helped the Soo Greyhounds increase their cushion on top of the Ontario Hockey League west division standings.
With the team fighting for the division crown and the second seed in the western conference playoffs, the Hounds defeated the Guelph Storm 6-2 on Sunday night in front of 3,694 fans at Memorial Gardens.
With the Plymouth Whalers losing their second consecutive game on Sunday night, the Hounds now have a three point lead over the Whalers with each team having eight regular season games remaining.
Windsor, 6-2 winners over Saginaw on Sunday afternoon, sit five points behind but have played one more game.
After a 5-1 loss to the London Knights at home on Saturday, the Whalers fell 5-2 on the road to Erie on Sunday.
In the Hounds win over Guelph, the Storm opened the scoring just 59 seconds into the contest when Mark O'Leary's shot trickled through the legs of Hounds goaltender Kyle Gajewski.
"It was a bad goal and the goalie knows he should of had it but I don't think there was a lot of panic," said Greyhounds head coach Craig Hartsburg. "Maybe earlier in the year, especially at home here, there may have been some panic but we just stayed with it and Guelph's not an easy team to play against."
The Hounds tied the score at the 11:20 mark when the puck squirted over to Andrew Desjardins, who skated in alone and beat Storm goaltender Danny Taylor. Carter put the Hounds ahead with a goal 1:34 later when he snapped a high shot past Taylor.
In the second period, Carter gave the Hounds a two-goal cushion when his shot deflected off the stick of Storm defenseman Ryan Card and past Taylor.
Near the end of the frame, the Greyhounds jumped ahead 4-1 when Jason Pitton skated in on a two-on-one with Carter while short handed. Pitton's pass across the crease to Carter was deflected past Taylor once again by Card.
Guelph trimmed the lead just 12 seconds later while still on the power play on a goal by Rick Steadman.
In the third period, Carter secured the hat trick 39 seconds into the period when his shot rang off the inside of the post behind Taylor and into the net. The goal was Carter's 28th of the season.
Brody Todd, who also recorded an assist, capped the scoring with a power play at 12:38.
"It was a lot closer than a 6-2 game. It could have easily been 2-2 at the end of the second but we got two lucky breaks on goals. It's nice to get a break because it seems like awhile since we've got some lucky goals and we'll take them," said Hartsburg.
"It was a big weekend for us. It started not the way we wanted it on Wednesday but we finished the weekend off on a solid note."
Carter added an assist for the four point night while Chris Lawrence setup three goals and Kyle Wharton two.
"(Brandon) MacLean and (Matt) Leszczynski gave us some good shifts tonight where they cycle and hold on to the puck and I think they have done a good job the last couple of games for us," said Hartsburg.
The Hounds outshot the Storm 31-29.
*** SPECIAL PRESENTATION:
Before the start of tonight's game, the Soo Greyhounds paid tribute to Art D'Orazio, the longest surviving member of the Soo Greyhounds' 1927 Northern Cup Championship team.
D'Orazio, now 96 years of age, was an instrumental part of the championship team.
The Greyhounds presented D'Orazio, who dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff, with a team jacket.
PHOTO: Greyhounds forward Andrew Desjardins scores a first period goal.