The Soo Greyhounds and Owen Sound Attack open their first round playoff series on Thursday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens

It’s a little earlier than usual but the Soo Greyhounds and Owen Sound Attack are set to meet again in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

The last playoff meeting saw the two clubs go to seven games in round two last year

“Three years in a row now we’ve played them, so we know a little bit what they’re about,” said Greyhounds forward Morgan Frost. “They had a bit of a turnover this year and they’re a little bit younger, but they work hard. We have to match that work ethic. As long as we’re doing that, our skill will shine.”

Owen Sound Coach Alan Letang, who took over the coaching duties on an interim basis from Todd Gill in late-January, expects the series to be intense early on.

“With us having played them the last few years, it’s going to be a pretty big rivalry right off the bat,” Letang said. “I don’t think we’re going to have to warm up in game one to get that competitive edge on.”

Frost spoke of the need to maintain an “even keel” in the playoffs.

“Staying positive as a team on the bench, in the room, and in practice (is important),” Frost said. “Also, in the playoffs the one thing I’ve learned is you can’t let your highs be too high and your lows be too low.”

“The stakes are raised a lot,” Frost added. “It’s such a higher emotion time.”

Entering the series as the underdog, drawing the Greyhounds in the opening round after a regular season that saw the Attack go 31-31-4-1, isn’t going to be an easy task.

“They’re a team that plays a puck possession game and we’re a team that’s pushing to try to be that team too,” Letang said. “Coming out of your own end clean, getting through the neutral zone clean is going to be critical for either team to have some success.”

Letang said the special teams battle will be important for the Attack in the series.

“We have to be very discipline and when we get opportunities on the power play, we have to be able to capitalize,” Letang said. “If we can continue to cycle pucks down low and have puck possession and keep some of their top players from having the puck, it will be to our benefit.”

The two clubs met just twice in the regular season with the Greyhounds winning both games.

In the first meeting, Barrett Hayton had a pair of goals while Frost had five assists in a 7-4 Greyhounds victory in late-November in Owen Sound. Nick Suzuki scored twice for the Attack.

The second meeting saw Keeghan Howdeshell score a pair of goals as the Greyhounds picked up a 4-3 win on home ice. Frost set up three goals for the Greyhounds.

Dean said at the time he felt the Greyhounds were “lucky to get two points” in the early-March victory.

Letang was pleased with the effort in the second meeting between the two clubs.

With a young team, good efforts consistently is something the team was striving for at the time.

“If we get a carbon-copy of that game and stay above pucks and not turn pucks over in the neutral zone, sometimes we’ll have to put the puck behind their defencemen and if we make some of those guys turn and have to go back and get pucks consistently, hopefully we can squeak out a road win or keep ourselves in that game to buy some special teams play or get something off the rush,” Letang said. “We’re going to have to be patient like we were in that game. We were comfortable. We got down 3-1 but we were still comfortable playing the way we wanted to play and knew we would get some opportunities.”

The series opens on Thursday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Game two is Saturday night, also a 7:07 p.m. start at the Gardens.

The series shifts to Owen Sound for games three and four at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre on March 25 and 27.