Greyhounds Clip Osprey Wings

Osprey vs Greyhounds.  1st vs 7th.  The game was supposed to be an Osprey domination as the Greyhounds expected a very short bench.  Well, the bench was NOT short.  In fact, it was one of their best attended games all season, and they had Sam Kamerson in net, replacing an absent Logan MacLean.

The Greyhounds came out firing.  Connor LeBlanc nearly scored twice in the first minute, but couldn’t beat Matt Baird.  The Greyhounds were getting the better chances early, but the speed of the Osprey took over as Rohan Dempsey got a step on the Greyhounds.  He took a shot low which was stopped.  The rebound came back to him and off his foot.  He reached with his stick and barely got a piece of it before the puck crossed the line as the Osprey went up 1-0.

Bryan Gillis of the Greyhounds took a rebound in his own zone and flew up ice.  He crossed into the Osprey zone and did a spinorama, keeping control of the puck.  His low shot turned into a rebound for Drew LeFrank and he slid home the puck to tie the game up.

Scott Stewart had a puck bounce to him in front of the Greyhounds goal with no-one around, but the puck kept bouncing and he couldn’t get the shot off.  The Greyhounds however got every shot off, though Matt Baird was keeping this game close.  The Osprey got themselves a 2 on 1, one of their signature moves this season.  Josh Martel makes the pass over to Rohan Dempsey, but a sliding Noah Joncas gets enough of it with his hand to disrupt the connection, and Rohan can’t get the shot off as Kyle Ervin closed in on him.  Josh Stevens would nearly have a break a few minutes later, but Kyle Gouthro got back in a hurry and knocked the puck away before a shot could be taken.

The Greyhounds were pressing hard but had little to show for all their sustained zone time.  That was until 1:57 left in the first, when #57 Mat McLeod, took a pass from Drew LeFrank and he got his shot up over the pad of Baird to put the Greyhounds up 2-1.  Then, Ashley a Leonard poked the puck off Josh Stevens stick in the neutral zone, right to Greg Delano.  Greg had a burst of speed, beating Mya Ferguson as he went to the net.  He did the classic forehand/backhand move and it was 3-1 Greyhounds. 

Matt Simpson got one back for the Osprey in the opening minute of the second when he went high glove on the breakaway, a play in which Matt Baird earned his first assist of the season. Buuuut the Osprey wouldn’t be finding much to celebrate the rest of the night, except maybe a big save sequence by Baird in the minutes after the a Simpson goal.

Greg Delano setup Drew LeFrank going to the net and he scored blocker side, then Brock Bethune stopped an Osprey clear and saw Delano down low.  He made the pass as Travis Hatcher slid to stop it, getting a piece but not enough.  Delano was going to the net and he took the pass and went between the legs with the shot, going up and over the glove of Baird.

Then there was a bit of a scary moment as Greg Delano and Rohan Dempsey collided hard, head to head.  The puck went to Kyle Ervin at the line and he hammered home his second of the season.

Keaton Hicks scored on a one timer for the Osprey, and then we saw 6 goals in the last 5:35 of play as the Greyhounds took the game 10-5.  The largest defeat of the season for the Osprey as they are set to redeem themselves tonight vs the Lions.

The Greyhounds had the best overall game of the season for them as they saw both a strong offensive push combined with an effective defensive game.  Kyle Ervin said that you can expect to see his team in the finals.  For now, they await the top 3 chaos to see who’s their dance partner in round 1 which begins next week.