It wasn't the way they wanted to open their current homestand, but the Soo Greyhounds walked out of Memorial Gardens on Wednesday night feeling good, despite dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to the Sarnia Sting.
The Greyhounds entered the game coming off losses to Toronto St. Michael's and Guelph last weekend on the back end of a three-game Ontario Hockey League road trip.
The game was a goaltenders duel from the outset when Hounds netminder Kevin Druce stopped Sarnia's John Hecimovic in the opening minutes of the game. Druce and Sarnia goaltender Ryan Munce matched each other save-for-save for virtually the entire game.
The game also had its share of fireworks stemming from the last meeting between the two teams in which the Hounds beat the Sting 3-2 in Sarnia, a game that saw it's share of bad blood with three fights.
The teams wasted no time in getting on with the extra-curricular activities as Matt Maccarone and Reg Thomas squared off in the first fight of the night just four seconds into the opening period. The Hounds' Brad Staubitz and Sarnia's Marco Caprara also squared off.
After a scoreless opening period, in which the Greyhounds outshot the Sting 12-11, both teams had problems capitalizing on chances in the second period and battled to a scoreless period again.
The Hounds peppered Munce with 15 shots in the period and nearly opened the scoring just under five minutes in when Jeff Carter hit the post on the power play while trying to knock in a rebound off a Scott Dobben shot.
In the third period, the Hounds managed to crack the armour of Munce early in the period when Jeff Carter scored at 4:41.
Sarnia used a two-man advantage to tie the game when John Hecimovic scored with Hounds defenceman Chris Hawley and veteran forward Scott Dobben in the penalty box at 10:55. In overtime, Druce was strong again stopping Sarnia's Daniel Sisca, who moved in alone and tried to deke Druce, who's only hope was to drop his arm behind him and stop Sisca's shot in a save similar to the one made on Hecimovic early in the opening period.
It wasn't meant to be though as Sisca then got revenge on Druce at 3:58 when he beat the veteran Hound netminder with a rising shot high to the glove side to end the game.
Druce, who was the game's first star, stopped 31 Sarnia shots in the loss, while Munce, who was the game's third star, stopped 33 shots for the win.
The game was also a home-coming for three Soo products as veteran defencemen Jeff Whitfield, rookie rearguard Trevor Solomon and rookie forward Kelsey Wilson all suit up for the Sting.
Whitfield and Wilson saw plenty of ice time in the game and played well, while Solomon, who didn't see the ice quite as much, although he did play regularly, has been making a fairly smooth adjustment to life in the OHL.
Hounds coach Marty Abrams, although disappointed with the loss, was happy with the effort although he would like to see his team put the puck in the net more.
"It was a tough loss, but it was a well-earned point," Abrams said following the game. "You've got to score more than one goal. I've been harping to them about burying their chances. We knew coming into the season we were going to struggle to score goals."
Abrams also went on to say that Friday night's game against Saginaw is an important one for his hockey club.
Abrams added that all games against Saginaw are must-wins because the points will be useful come season's end if they find themselves in a battle for a playoff spot.
After Friday night's game against Saginaw at 7:30 p.m., the Hounds will prepare to face the Plymouth Whalers on Sunday at 2 p.m.
In other OHL action on Wednesday night, the Erie Otters used a shorthanded goal by Sean Courtney with under five minutes left in the game to skate to a 3-3 tie with the Mississauga IceDogs.
Alex Karaulchuk had a goal and an assist for Erie, while Patrick O' Sullivan had two assists and Brad Efthimou had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs.