A pair of goals by Taylor Raddysh against his former team turned into the difference for the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon.
The veteran forward scored twice in the third period as the Greyhounds picked up a 3-2 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Erie Otters at the Essar Centre.
Raddysh scored the eventual game-winner at 15:52 of the third period as the Greyhounds extended their winning streak to six games in the process.
Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister spoke of the team starting the game well before struggling in the second period and returning to form in the third.
“Our start in the third period from a lacklustre second period was really good,” Bannister said.
“We were playing a lot on the perimeter in the second period as a team,” Bannister also said.
Jack Kopacka had the other goal for the Greyhounds while Boris Katchouk assisted on both goals by Raddysh.
Following the second period, the Greyhounds shuffled lines as rookie Joe Carroll moved onto the top line to centre Raddysh and Katchouk for part of the period. Bannister called it a reward for a good effort by Carroll in the game.
“I rewarded a player,” Bannister said of the switch. “Our first line, I didn’t like the way they were playing. Joe Carroll played really well with that group. “
Bannister would say some improvements could be made in the Greyhounds game of late.
“We’re not playing as well as we could be,” Bannister said. “But I liked our game a lot better today than I did on Friday (against Saginaw). There were some positives, but the negative was the second period.”
“We’re a little bit stale right now as a hockey club but we’re certainly not playing our best,” Bannister also said. “I think I would be worried if we were playing well and only getting results like this. We’re playing well enough to win right now but we’re not playing as well as we should be and we’re still managing to win hockey games.”
Goaltender Matthew Villalta made 20 saves.
Emmett Sproule and former Greyhound Hayden Fowler scored for the Otters. Goaltender Dan Murphy stopped 27 shots.
“Tonight was a really positive game,” said Otters Coach Chris Hartsburg. “We went toe-to-toe with that team. An elite player gets pucks in that area, he’s going to score on (the chances). We have guys who can get there but can’t put the puck in the net, but we had some good looks.”
“We’re really happy with our effort,” Hartsburg added.
Hartsburg spoke highly of Fowler, who was dealt by the Greyhounds to the Otters in the trade that brought Raddysh and Jordan Sambrook north.
“We really like what Hayden is going to be for us,” Hartsburg said. “He competes, he can skate, and he can score. For us, he fits the mold of what we’re going to be as a team, which is a team that’s hard to play against.”
The Greyhounds improve to 43-5-2-1 while Erie falls to 15-26-6-3.
The Greyhounds didn’t have an update on the return of Conor Timmins from injury while Rasmus Sandin remains day-to-day. His status for the Greyhounds upcoming road trip remains up in the air. Goaltender Tyler Johnson is expected to return to the lineup for the trip after missing time due to injury.
The trip begins on Thursday night in St. Catharines as the Greyhounds face the Niagara IceDogs. The trip will also take the Greyhounds to Erie on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday afternoon.
In other action around the OHL on Sunday, in North Bay, Cedric Ralph scored at 3:39 of overtime as the Guelph Storm beat the North Bay Battalion 3-2. Barret Kirwin had two goals and an assist for the Storm.
In Ottawa, Sasha Chmelevski had a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Peterborough Petes 5-3. Mitchell Hoelscher added a goal and an assist for Ottawa.
In Oshawa, Kenny Huether and Domenico Commisso had two goals and two assists each as the Oshawa Generals beat the Windsor Spitfires 6-3.