With every point even more important, one point is a lot better than nothing as the Ontario Hockey League regular season winds down for the Soo Greyhounds.
Joseph Garreffa beat Bailey Brkin in overtime to give the Ottawa 67's a 5-4 win over the Greyhounds Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
From the left faceoff circle Garreffa beat Brkin high stick side to give the 67's the win in a game in which both coaches saw positives.
Continually battling back in the game against one of the OHL’s best teams, Greyhounds coach John Dean said “the resilience of our group to keep coming back, it’s pretty impressive.”
Ottawa coach Andre Tourigny called the game “really important” after a tough effort on Thursday night in a loss to North Bay.
“The Sault isn’t an easy team to play against,” Tourigny said. “They play with a lot of pace and they make a lot of plays with the puck. It was important for us to defend well and play a good game. We’re really happy with the effort.”
The Greyhounds came back to tie the game four different times in the game, including a goal by Rory Kerins with 59 seconds to go in regulation time
“Looking back at the game, even on the bench, there was a certain sense of calm,” Dean said of the Greyhounds comeback. “We stuck to our style of play. We did give up a few chances, which is the nature of the beast when you’re trying to tie up the game, but we had a lot of chances. There was a five-minute stretch in the third period where we were really bussing the net.
“I do like the poise that we showed and not panicking at the end,” Dean added. “We looked like a group that thought, ‘We’re going to be ok here. We’re going to get two points.’”
Brkin finished the night with 24 saves for the Greyhounds.
“Bailey was great, and he’s been really solid for us as of late,” Dean said. “I’m really happy with his game.”
Ryan O’Rourke assisted on three Sault goals while Zack Trott added a pair of helpers.
Tanner Dickinson chipped in with a goal and an assist. Jaromir Pytlik and Joe Carroll also scored for the Greyhounds.
Garreffa finished the night with three goals, giving him 31 on the year, and a pair of assists for the 67’s.
“He’s working on his game to become a more complete player,” Tourigny said. “He’s a good player and he makes other players around him better as well. He’s been a good addition.”
Marco Rossi had three assists for Ottawa.
Austen Keating added a goal and an assist for Ottawa while Cameron Tolnai also had a two-point night with a pair of assists.
Mitchell Hoelscher had the other Ottawa goal.
67’s goaltender Cedrick Andree stopped 26 shots.
Ottawa played the game minus veteran defencemen Noel Hoefenmayer due to injury and Merrick Rippon due to a suspension.
Rookie defenceman Jack Matier, a Sault product, has continued to step into the Ottawa lineup and play regular minutes and contribute.
“You could see tonight, he played around 20 minutes and it’s not the first time,” Tourigny said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries on the back end since the start of the season and he’s played a lot of games this season in our top four. He’s done a really good job for us this year.”
Friday’s result took on some added meaning thanks to a 4-3 loss by the Erie Otters to the Kitchener Rangers in Kitchener.
The Greyhounds, with a record of 25-28-3-1, gain a point on the Otters in the OHL’s Western Conference with 54.
Ottawa improves to 43-10-0-1 following Friday’s win.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday afternoon at the GFL Memorial Gardens against the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is set to 2:07 p.m.
In other action around the OHL on Friday night, in Kingston, Shane Wright scored on the power play at 1:25 of overtime to give the Kingston Frontenacs a 4-3 win over the Oshawa Generals. Christian Propp made 46 saves for Kingston.
In Flint, Jack Wismer had two goals as the Flint Firebirds beat the Mississauga Steelheads 6-3. Flint goaltender Anthony Popovich stopped 34 shots.
In Sudbury, Damien Giroux and Camaryn Baber had two goals each as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Sudbury Wolves 10-6. Nolan Hutcheson scored twice for Sudbury.
In Guelph, Eric Uba had two goals and an assist as the Guelph Strom beat the London Knights 5-3. Alec Regula scored three times for London.
In Kitchener, Riley Damiani’s goal at 7:03 of the second period was the eventual game winner as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Erie Otters 4-3. Jacob Ingham made 30 saves for the Rangers.