Philip LaneBRAMPTON, Ont. – Robin Lehner put the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on the long road home Sunday in fine spirits.
Goaltender Lehner, a Swedish import, made 49 saves as the Greyhounds completed a stretch of six consecutive road games with a 4-1 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Brampton Battalion.
Michael Quesnele contributed two goals, including an empty-netter, Jordan Nolan had one goal and one assist and Myles McCauley also scored for Sault Ste. Marie, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 28-21-5 for 61 points, third in the West Division. The Greyhounds went 4-1-1 in the run of road dates.
Philip Lane scored for the Battalion, 18-23-12 for 48 points and third place in the Central Division. Goaltender Patrick Killeen faced 15 shots.
“Lehner was pretty good today,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “Any time you get 50 shots in a game in the OHL, you should win. It’s not a good sign when you outshoot a team 25-5 in the third period and get outscored 2-0. We kept going at them, and you can’t knock the effort of our guys, but it didn’t get us anything. Hopefully that will change down the road.”
Killeen was relieved by rookie Jacob Riley early in the second period Saturday night after allowing three goals on five shots in a 4-1 road loss to the London Knights.
“Patrick’s been great for us all season, but he has to better than he’s been in the last two games,” said Butler. “He needs to step up his game to give us a chance to win.”
Sault Ste. Marie carried a 2-1 lead into the third period, in which the Battalion put a season-high 25 shots on the opposition net. Those with fine scoring chances included Stephon Thorne and Matt MacLeod in the fourth minute, Lane and Ian Watters in the ninth and Kyle Pereira, who made Lehner stretch to snare a point drive in the 10th.
The Battalion, which had three power plays in the period, managed four shots during a two-man advantage lasting 49 seconds, with the best chance coming when Lehner got a pad on a shot from the high slot by Ken Peroff and a following attempt at the lip of the crease by Sean Jones.
Nolan gave the Greyhounds breathing room at 17:39 with his 19th goal of the season. Peroff failed to keep the puck in at the blue line, and Nolan took off on a breakaway, beating Killeen between the legs.
Defenceman Quesnele fired the puck the length of the ice for a shorthanded goal into the empty net at 18:48 with Killeen on the bench and Daniel Catenacci in the penalty box for slashing.
Lane opened the scoring on the power play at 2:48 of the first period, taking a feed from Matt Clark and beating Lehner low to the stick side with a shot from the edge of the right-wing circle. It was Lane’s 17th goal.
McCauley replied with his 22nd score at 5:40 to tie it. Cameron Wind blocked David Mead’s shot from the left point, but the puck skittered to McCauley, who one-timed it past a diving Killeen.
Quesnele gave the visitors the lead on the power play at 12:39, converting the rebound of a Nolan shot from the lip of the crease.
The period featured two fights. Alex O’Neil and Sault Ste. Marie’s Dylan King squared off in a brief wrestling match that ended with O’Neil getting the takedown, and Wind and Brandon Archibald traded blows in a marathon bout.
The Battalion held a 10-6 edge in shots in the scoreless second period. Three minor penalties were assessed, all to the Troops, but Scott Tanski and Cody Hodgson produced shorthanded chances in the seventh and ninth minutes respectively. Lane forced Lehner to be sharp in the 18th, pouncing on Brad Albert’s rebound.
Battalion scratches were Zach Bell, Craig Moore, Thomas Stajan and Michael Santini. Sault Ste. Marie scratched Marshall Fox, Vern Cooper and Ryan MacLean.
The Battalion visits the Sudbury Wolves at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The Greyhounds’ recent road schedule was necessitated by the fact that the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women’s curling championship, occupied Sault Ste. Marie’s Essar Centre for nine days ending Sunday … The Greyhounds were cheered on by a busload of supporters from Sault Ste. Marie … Attendance was 2,451 … The Battalion went 1-for-7 on the power play. Sault Ste. Marie was 1-for-5 … The Battalion has outshot its last four opponents by totals of 186-92. The Troops recorded 50 or more shots for the third time this season and the second occasion in the last three games … The Battalion is 9-11-7 at home, while the Greyhounds are 14-13-3 on the road … The Troops are 10-5-4 against Western Conference opponents … Opening line combinations included Hodgson centring left winger Jones and right winger Tanski, Sam Carrick centring left winger Watters and right winger Lane and Domenic Alberga pivoting left winger Thorne and right winger MacLeod. Barclay Goodrow centred left winger O’Neil and right winger Shane Kinsella … Stajan sat out after suffering a shoulder injury in the first period at London. Stajan, who was recognized as the club’s scholastic player of the month for January, had played 156 consecutive games since completing an eight-game suspension on Dec. 13, 2007 … Defenceman Albert returned after losing one game to flu … The Battalion won 4-1 on Jan. 22 at Sault Ste. Marie to open the two-game season series … Lehner was the ninth pick in the CHL Import Draft last June. He had been a second-round choice of the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft days earlier.
