Same old story for the Storm as they put a tough Friday night out of their memory with a solid Saturday.  One night after suffering an 8-3 loss in Saginaw, Guelph bounced back with a 6-1 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to make the long drive home a little easier.

Garret Sparks played a solid game in goal for the visitors including an outstanding first period, where the Greyhounds owned an 11-7 advantage in shots on goal, but still trailed 2-0 after twenty.  Zack Mitchell opened the scoring with his team-best 20th of the year at 6:46.  Fresh from a solid performance for Switzerland at the 2012 World Junior Championship, Tanner Richard wasted little time making an impact for the Storm as he picked up his first of four helpers on Mitchell's marker.  Only 27 seconds later, Cody McNaughton doubled the bulge to 2-0 with his 16th from Jason Dickinson and Scott Kosmachuk.

While Sparks had to be at his best in the first, the Storm attack was at their best in the second leaving their hosts down four before the game was 28 minutes old and outshooting them 17-11.  Already with an assist on Mitchell's goal, Frank Menard joined the scoring parade with two of his own to make it 4-0 at the 7:25 mark.  Mac Nichol picked up his second assist of the season on Menard's first.  Along with the helper, the Listowel native was an impressive +3 on the evening.  With just 58 seconds remaining in the frame, the Greyhounds finally solved Sparks with their 21st shot of the night as Michael Schumacher notched his 20th of the season unassisted.

If Schumacher's tally gave the Hounds any hope entering the second intermission, the Storm didn't take long to spoil them as they counted two times in 3:52 to take a 6-1 advantage.  Guelph's hottest scorer of late, Justin Auger notched his fifth in four games from Patrick Watling and Ryan Horvat before Menard finished the hat trick from Richard and Stephen Gaskin.

The Storm's next home action is Friday, January 13th with another tilt against a West Division foe as they host the Windsor Spitfires at 7:30 pm at the Sleeman Centre.

Guelph Storm 6 at Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 1 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 7, 2012 - Essar Centre

Guelph 2 2 2 - 6
Sault Ste. Marie 0 1 0 - 1

1st Period-1, Guelph, Mitchell 20 (Richard, Menard), 6:46. 2, Guelph, McNaughton 16 (Dickinson, Kosmachuk), 7:13. Penalties-Cousins Ssm (cross checking), 7:13; Alderson Ssm (holding), 15:01.

2nd Period-3, Guelph, Menard 12 (Nichol, Richard), 0:41. 4, Guelph, Menard 13 (Richard, Mitchell), 7:25 (PP). 5, Sault Ste. Marie, Schumacher 20   19:02. Penalties-Kantor Ssm (delay of game), 6:20; Horvat Gue (slashing), 10:04; Cousins Ssm (holding opp. stick), 10:13.

3rd Period-6, Guelph, Auger 5 (Watling, Horvat), 2:06. 7, Guelph, Menard 14 (Gaskin, Richard), 3:52. Penalties-Kosmachuk Gue (holding), 4:36; Schumacher Ssm (slashing), 6:56; Kantor Ssm (roughing), 7:52; Pedan Gue (slashing), 15:56.

Shots on Goal-Guelph 7-17-12-36. Sault Ste. Marie 11-11-8-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Guelph 1 / 6; Sault Ste. Marie 0 / 3.
Goalies-Guelph, Sparks 13-11-1-2 (30 shots-29 saves). Sault Ste. Marie, Murray 11-14-0-1 (8 shots-5 saves); Millen 0-0-0-0 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-4,441
Referees-Chris Carnegie (44), Seth Ferguson (39).
Linesmen-Chris Kellar (79), Alex Cruise (47).