Less than a week after dropping a 2-1 decision to the Mississauga IceDogs, the Soo Greyhounds used a game against those same IceDogs to salvage some points on their three-game homestand on Saturday night.
A three-goal second period propelled the Hounds to a 4-2 victory over the IceDogs to put them back into a tie with the Guelph Storm for top spot in the Ontario Hockey League. The win came one night after the Storm earned an 8-3 win over the Hounds.
Jeff Carter, who was named the game's first star, opened the scoring for the Hounds at 2:21 of the first period when he beat Mississauga starter David Shantz. Local product Blair Jarrett tied the score at 12:12 when he moved in alone on and beat Hounds netminder Jakub Cech with a deke.
The Hounds turned it up a notch in the second period with three goals including two markers a minute apart when Jason Pitton, the games third star, and Matt Puntureri scored at 10:18 and 11:18, respectively, to put the Hounds up 3-1.
At 14:45, Jarrett, named the game's second star, scored on the power play to make it a one goal game but a Jacob King goal at 18:15 capped off the scoring to give the Hounds a 4-2 win in front of a crowd of just over 2,800 at Memorial Gardens.
"It's a big relief," Hounds coach Marty Abrams said following the game. "It shows a lot of character. (The coaching staff) challenged them to play better. I was proud of them."
Abrams was also happy with the play of his defencemen, along with youngsters such as Andrew Desjardins and Brad Good.
"Our defensive play was outstanding," Abrams said. " We challenged the younger players too and I'm very happy with them."
The Hounds played the game without the services of veteran forward Jeff Larsh. Larsh missed the game due to an aggravated shoulder injury. He is expected to miss roughly a week of action.
While Larsh was out of the lineup, the Hounds regained the services of overage winger Jeff Doyle, who sat out Friday's game against Guelph after being suspended for comments made in the media.
Carter and netminder Kevin Druce are not expected to miss any action while they are playing in the ReMax Canada-Russia Challenge series which kicks off next week. Carter and Druce will compete for the OHL representatives who will play games against a team of Russian junior-aged players.
The games will take place in London on Monday and in Sarnia on Wednesday. Both players are expected to be in the lineup when the Hounds play their next game on Thursday night in Peterborough.
In other Ontario Hockey League action on Saturday night, Liam Reddox scored twice and set up another to lead Peterborough over Oshawa 4-1. In Belleville, Mike Roelofsen scored a natural hat trick in the third period as Belleville beat Saginaw 6-3.
Ryan Nie stopped 35 shots for Plymouth and Ryan Munce turned aside 29 shots for Sarnia as the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie. Sean O'Connor had a goal and two assists for Erie while Owen Sound goaltender Robert Gherson stopped 43 Erie shots in a 4-4 tie between the Otters and the Attack.
In Barrie, Chad Thompson's goal late in the third period for the Colts salvaged a 3-3 tie between Barrie and Sudbury.