By DAVE PAUL
The Sarnia Sting blitzed the
Saginaw Spirit with three
goals in a span of 3:10
during the first period of
Friday night's OHL game at
RBC Centre.
They then rode that early
surge to a 4-1 win to close
out the pre-Christmas
portion of the schedule with
a 17-13-1-2 record.
The 17 wins matches the
Sting total from last
season.
It was a big night for the
line of centre Stephen
Pierog and wingers Hayden
Hodgson and Brandon
Lindberg, which was on the
ice for all four Sting
goals.
Lindberg opened the scoring
at 4:11, finishing off a
rush with a shot that beat
Spirit goalie David
Ovsjannikov. Less than three
minutes later, Hodgson
converted a nice backhanded
feed from Pierog to give the
Sting a two-goal lead.
Then, just 13 seconds later,
Jakob Chychrun -- playing in
his first game after a
lengthy absence with an
injured shoulder -- scored a
pretty goal, sneaking in
from the blueline to take a
pass from defence partner
Jeff King.
Saginaw tried to fight back
in the second period, with
Kris Bennett scoring early
on a rebound. But the Sting
restored the three-goal lead
just over a minute later
when Lindberg got his second
of the game on a wrist shot
that beat what appeared to
be a screened Ovsjannikov.
The Spirit didn't give up,
however, and outplayed the
Sting for much of the middle
period, getting numerous
quality scoring chances in
the process.
But, as he has been so often
for the Sting in recent
weeks, goalie Taylor Dupuis
was outstanding in slamming
the door on the Spirit, time
and again.
Final shots on goal in the
game were 32-28 for Sarnia.
Saginaw's best chance to get
back in the game came around
the five-minute mark of the
third period when the Sting
took two minor penalties, 20
seconds apart. And, while
the Spirit did ring a shot
off the post, Dupuis and the
Sting penalty killers stood
tall in fighting off the
Spirit two-man advantage.
The Sting were missing many
key players, some at World
Jr. Championship camps
(Anthony DeAngelo and Pavel
Zacha) and some due to
injury (including Josh
Chapman and Davis Brown).
With 37 points, the Sting
now sit sixth in the Western
Conference standings but are
now just one point behind
fifth-place Owen Sound and
three back of fourth-place
Guelph, with a game in hand.
The Sting are now idle until
Sunday, Dec. 28 when they
will host the Plymouth
Whalers in a 4:05 start.