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Sarnia Sting Down London Knights

sunday september 7, 2014


By DAVE BORODY
 

There are a number of players the Sarnia Sting will count on heavily this season as they make their way up the standings in the Ontario Hockey League.

Two of those players are forwards Nikita Korostelev and Alexandre Renaud.

The pair responded in a big way as the Sting crushed the London Knights 7-1, Saturday night at the RBC Centre.

Korostelev, the team’s first round pick a year ago, scored two goals and assisted on two others and was the game’s first star. Renaud, a second round choice two years ago, had a pair of goals and took second star honours.

“I know Nikita had four points, but he’s got to get better in all areas of his game,” said Sting assistant coach, Andy Delmore. “We are going to lean on him heavily this season. He’s got to be good every night and not take any shifts off. He has to keep up his intensity. I think he’s starting to get it.”

Delmore added, “He has one of the best shots in the league. He’s learning to move the puck quickly with his teammates and he is also hard on the puck. We want him to be a quiet leader on this team.”

As for Renaud, he has three goals in the past two games.

“He’s got to play like he did tonight every game,” said Delmore. “He’s got to use his big body like he did several times in the game. I think the past couple of games has given him some confidence and that’s good to see.”

As for the game overall, the Sting shrugged off their loss in London Friday night with a much better effort.

“I thought we played well from a structural point of view,” said Delmore. “Our neutral zone game was much better while our defencemen showed much better structure than in Friday’s game.”

Delmore says he’s not worried about wins and losses at this point.

“I didn’t care about Friday night’s loss and really tonight’s win doesn’t mean much either. The big game is about three weeks away when we start the regular season. After three pre-season games we want the players to come to practice and work like pros. That’s what the coaching staff is trying to get across at this point. We want to get better every day. It sounds like an old cliché, but it works.”

Davis Brown also chipped in with a pair of goals for the Sting while Anthony DeAngelo had a goal and three assists giving him the first round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning six points in the two pre-season games he has appeared in.

Highly touted European pick, Pavel Zacha notched a pair of assists and centered the game’s best line along side Korostelev and Brown.

Owen Macdonald scored London’s goal in the first period. After his goal, Sarnia responded with seven in a row.

The teams were tied 1-1 after one period while the Sting jumped out to a commanding 5-1 advantage after 40 minutes.

Rookie Justin Fazio turned aside 18 of 19 shots he faced in the Sting goal and was named the game’s third star. Two London goalies were peppered with 44 shots.

The Sting now sports a 2-1 pre-season record. They have two more games remaining, a home and home series with the Windsor Spitfires. The teams play Wednesday night in Windsor before meeting again Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

Tickets for Friday’s game are on sale daily at the RBC Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at www.sarniasting.com

Season tickets are also on the sale at the RBC Box Office.

  • Sting forward Matt Ciccarelli, who was carried off the ice on a stretcher in London Friday night, was at Saturday’s game. He’s feeling much better after more tests were conducted in Sarnia and is currently out indefinitely.

  • Not dressed other than Ciccarelli were Kevin Spinozzi, Josh Chapman, Vladislav  Kodola, Ryan Vendramin and Zachary Core.

  • Sarnia had two power play goals and London one.

 

 


 





 

 

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